Looking to plastic as a past, present, and future artifact, Studio Rat positions the material as a curious and amorphous conduit for queer ecological theory and broader systems thinking. Their process often employs sewing, quilting, and other textile manipulation techniques to craft forms that challenge conventional ideas of materiality, structure, and permanence through a continuous cycle of rework and reuse. By iteratively repurposing discarded plastics and past projects the artists create inflatable dreamscapes that consider the irreversible binding of plastic in our environments and everyday experience.
Studio Rat’s immersive body of work pushes against oppressive built environments with a prime directive of silliness and play, and has been featured in events and exhibitions across Canada, including Arsenal Contemporary Art (Montreal, 2024), and Nuit Blanche Toronto (2023). Both Emily and Dom hold degrees in Interior Design from Toronto Metropolitan University and live and work in Tio’Tia:Ke/ Mooniyang/ Montréal. Studio Rat has an upcoming solo exhibition at Grimsby Public Art Centre in 2026.
@studio__rat