Anthropomorphism is a strand of thought enlisted to discuss land, nationalism and history. Lucien refers to dogs, and butterflies respectively in the steels, Chen Peyi, papilio aristor X, papilio artistor XI. Residual familial memories and ideas around indigineity coexist in Chen Peyi, which foreground the recollection of a country dog an inextricable presence in the rural landscape of her youthful memories and the fabled burning house of Lucien’s grandparents, again referenced in the floor-based work, Kindling. The recurring spiderweb motif symbolises the course of life and companionship. Lucien envisages the butterflies, in the The Wait romanticising mortality as they circle towards the heart of the web.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic are nations that contentiously share the island of Hispaniola. papilio aristophor is a swallotail subspecies of afrotropical butterfly that moves across both nations but has been cited scientifically to originate from Haiti. The butterflies movements transgress and ‘queers’ the boundary between the two nations and echo that sentiment in the gallery space.