All the canals [2017] & All the islands of all the seas [2016]

All the Canals (2017) comprises a single glass vessel containing water mixed together from each of the 182 capillary-like canals that run through Venice. The slow moving, murky water is distilled and held still like a 'liquid photograph'. As sea levels continue to rise, Kovats preempts the impending demise of the city by preserving the water somewhere between a scientific specimen or holy relic, listing the names of the canals in alphabetical order next to the bottle in memoriam. The sculpture is paired with one of the artist’s most significant drawings to date: All the Islands of All the Seas (2016). Using The Times Atlas as her source, Kovats has made meticulous studies of all of the islands that are located in the world’s 92 seas. These translucent drawings are then layered (sometimes up to 10 drawings at a time) and clustered into their seas before being pinned into individual frames. In doing so, the artist releases the islands from their cartographic fixity, creating an imaginary archipelago where national boundaries and frontiers are cast aside.