This week, Gallery 881 welcomes a new exhibition, Vapes & Butts, from acclaimed Vancouver-based photographer Michelle Leone Huisman. On display May 6 to June 6, Vapes & Butts, is a compelling new body of work that transforms the discarded remnants of contemporary life into images of haunting beauty and permanence.
Made up of 22 richly layered, lysergic photographs, Vapes & Butts turns battered vape pods and crushed cigarette butts into vivid, almost otherworldly compositions. These symbols of consumption, pollution, and ritual, viewed through Huisman’s lens, become powerful visual metaphors for habits that persist despite their cost.
At its core, the exhibition reflects on an ephemeral act: money and material literally going up in smoke, leaving behind a landscape of near-indestructible waste. Continuing a conceptual thread from her earlier COVID-era exhibitions—where broken wooden spoons and discarded masks were similarly reimagined—Huisman imbues these overlooked objects with both beauty and a sense of permanence.
Vapes & Butts is also in direct dialogue with the legacy of Irving Penn, whose seminal Cigarettes series revived and expanded the use of the platinum palladium printing process, in turn advancing its significance in the 20th century. Huisman builds on this lineage, incorporating painterly layers of gum bichromate to introduce vivid washes of colour—expanding and contemporizing Penn’s formal language.
17.78 cm x 22.86 cm Edition AP
The contrast at the heart of the work is striking: objects discarded in seconds are painstakingly transformed through a process that requires up to five days per image. Beginning in 2024—marking the 52nd anniversary of Penn’s series—Huisman devoted two years to collecting and documenting these remnants, often sourced from city sidewalks and the grounds of a neighbouring high school.
The platinum palladium process, known for its exceptional longevity, aligns with Huisman’s ongoing artistic inquiry: how to grant permanence to what is transient, overlooked, and routinely erased. As with much of her practice, the project unfolded organically, driven by observation and accumulation over time. “These objects are designed to be used and forgotten. I wanted to slow that down—to hold them in place and ask what they reveal about us.”
Michelle Leone Huisman’s Vapes & Butts is showing from May 6 to June 6, 2026 at Gallery 881, 881 E Hastings Street.
Special Events:
Opening Reception (artist in attendance) on May 7, 2026 from 6 to 9pm
Artist Talk on May 23, 2026 from 2 to 3 pm
The Vapes & Butts exhibition will feature Artist Proof prints alongside a hand-bound Artist Proof book. The book contains 24 images, the majority of which are included in the exhibition.