alysha farling

Full is a sculptural exhibition born from overwhelm, overstimulation, and excitement. It continues my ongoing exploration of transformation—turning found, personal, and discarded materials into imagined worlds that feel both dense and expansive, tense yet full of wonder. This exhibition combines new sculptures, elements from past installations, and site-specific works, forming a landscape that is constantly evolving.

Since 2020, my life has been defined by a new kind of fullness. Becoming a mother reshaped my relationship with time, space, and material. The early months were a blur of extremes—pure joy and exhaustion, deep love and anxiety, an endless cycle of being needed, touched, pulled in every direction. It was overwhelming and exhilarating all at once. When I returned to the studio, those feelings manifested physically in the work: an urge to keep adding, to push the material as far as it could go without losing all structure. My studio became a release valve, a space where I could channel the intensity of this new chapter.

At its core, my practice is rooted in reimagining the everyday. As a child, I longed to shrink down and explore hidden worlds—between rocks, under giant leaves, inside cracks in the walls. These places held a magic that was both beautiful and strange, comforting yet unsettling. I find echoes of that magic in the objects we leave behind. Repurposing materials—bones, baggies, cigarette butts, bits of broken things—alongside personal and sentimental items allows me to build miniature worlds where discarded objects gain new life, new meaning. There’s a tension in the contrast between play and debris, between nostalgia and reality, and that tension brings a certain vibrancy to the work.

Though my sculptures feel alive, they remain uninhabited. No creatures or characters exist within them, leaving space for the viewer to imagine what (or who) might belong there. The process of collecting and assembling these materials is deeply personal, yet it also serves as a connection point—to the people in my life, to past versions of myself, and to those who engage with the work.

My intent with Full is for it to feel like stepping into something vast yet intricate, overwhelming yet exhilarating. A world that is brimming, at capacity—yet always capable of holding more.

“Full” ran from March 8th - 23rd, 2025 at Arc-hive ARC in Victoria BC.

‘Butts, nuts and who knows whats’ Is a body of work I created after re-entering my art practice after the birth of my daughter, while attempting to balance motherhood, work life, and studio. This show includes sculpture, two enlarged images; ‘The house of quick nicks’ and ‘The house of relief;’ as well as drawings taken from my sketchbook. 

This work is busy, playful, and slightly chaotic like life with a toddler.

I included a small eye spy to encourage the viewer to engage with the work in a way they might not normally.

Window installation at Rockslide Gallery created from pieces of the wall sculpture I made while at the BMK residency during August/September 2020.

I was the artist in residence at the BMK residency from August 2020 to the end of September 2020. While there I created three free standing sculptures and one larger site specific wall piece.

I experimented with different materials, (glue, salt, wax) as a way to “age” the work, as well as, I worked with projections as a way to connect the free standing sculptures with the wall sculpture. I was in my third trimester while creating work.

I received a research and creation grant for this opportunity from Canada Council for the Arts.

BMK Residency

Canada Council for the Arts

“The city of hidden remnants includes wire, fabric, found objects and garbage “bits”, made from old and new pieces of sculpture. Alysha is a found object storyteller weaving together a choose your own adventure story. The storefront presented a big challenge: how to engage the viewer. A large part of experiencing Alysha’s work is being able to get up close and see all the detail and explore the worlds. Alysha used bright colors and warm yellow lights to bring attention to her installation, as well as, incorporating in many more objects than she usually does creating visual texture. She hints in her title ‘The city of hidden remnants' that there may be things to find within it. Pulling inspiration from a favorite childhood book ‘can you see what I see’, on the other set of windows, she has included a list of objects that are placed throughout the installation, some more challenging to find than others. Alysha’s hope is that the viewer can find a sense of curiosity and play when looking at this new work.”

Store Fronts Victoria

Daydreaming and the long burn out was a site specific installation at Arc-hive Artist Run Centre. This installation came from a period in my life where I was working two jobs with barely any days off. I was functioning on almost no sleep on a consistent basis and I felt as though I was always walking in a blurry cloud. This installation features “Tired Self” which is a self portrait in my most exhausted place.

This exhibition also included two smaller sculptures and 20+ drawings from my sketchbook/notebooks from that period of exhaustion.

Arc-hive Artist Run Centre

Floating City was one of six projects chosen to be part of The Paddelbox’s first year. Paddelbox (a ‘gallery’ on water) is an off shoot of Peddalbox (a mobile ‘gallery’ on the back of a bike) which is part of the Ministry of Casual Living in Victoria B.C.

For this project I collected objects and garbage near bodies of water. This included beaches, ponds, fountains and even toilets.

On December 28th, 2016, we (myself & the paddlebox team) did a secret installation at 6am when the sun came up at Willows beach in Victoria, B.C.

The Ministry of Casual Living

A collaborative exhibition at Untitled Art Space in Vancouver B.C. curated by Lauren D Zbarsky. The wood exterior was created by Vancouver artist Patrick Christie from off-cuts from his studio. I then sculpted the world within. There were two entry points for the viewer to be able to enter and see the world.

After the show finished I took bits and pieces of the scuplture and installed them in the streets of Vancouver.

In 2015, after seven years living in Montreal and experiencing intense winters I became the Artist In Residence at Camosun College in Victoria, B.C. I went into this residency with the desire to bring my experiences of winters in Quebec home. Once back in B.C., where everything is green and alive, I couldn’t bring myself to even think about winter anymore.

During my months in the studio I allowed myself to build and create without an end plan in sight, with no expectations. Also I invited the students and faculty to bring me objects for me to incorporate into my sculptures.

The end result was my exhibiton “so damp, them three bellies, grew a whole damn world” at the Fiftyfifty gallery in Victoria, B.C.

The Fiftyfifty

Created for the Creatively United for the Planet Festival in Victoria, B.C.

Creatively United for the Planet

A site specific sculpture built in Tremula Art Space in La Plata, Argentina.

After my residency in La Plata, 2014, I was invited back to have an exhibition at Tremula. Again, like in the “Wanderer” I walked the streets to see the city and collect materials. While searching for materials I kept finding gelato spoons that read “artisanal” in the handle. I decided to alter them to make them read Anal and turn them into Little city signs.

Wanderlust was a site specific sculpture that was part of a group show called “Sweet and Sour” at PDA Gallery in Ottawa Ontario.

The exhibition was curated by gallery creator and owner, Brendan D. Montigny.

The Wanderer was a site specific sculptural installation created in La Plata, Argentina at Residencia Corazon.

For this project I wandered the streets of La Plata not only to experience and explore a new environment but also to collect materials. At the time I had just finished university, was going through a difficult break up and had no real idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was the wanderer literally and metephorically.

The installation consisted of an animal/human hybrid walking with a world floating behind it. The world representing where it’s been - it’s history.

The exhibition also included a wall of individual houses and a large drawing.

Collected world was a full room installation consisting of three mountain like structures, site specific pieces on the wall, and painted wall elements at Fresh Paint Gallery in Montreal Quebec.

This was the first time I incorporated my own personal collections, found objects and discarded materials from my life into my work.

As a way to connect and engage with the viewer I included a list on the wall of objects to find within the installation - an eye spy.

Collected World was the first installation I did after graduating from Concordia University in January 2014.

These are portraits of the houses that inhabit my sculptures, 2016 - 2022. They are made from cardboard , found objects and discarded materials.

Sometimes these homes tell a story - about my life, a moment in time, a place I have been and sometimes they don’t and I don’t know what the story is or where it’s going and it is simply about the pleasure of bringing material together. In the end they all feel personal because of the intimate way they are constructed.

To me, the houses are alive and they are are what live in the worlds I create.