plastic orchid factory
plasticorchidfactory.ca
Digital Folk. Photo by Kirk Chantraine
Plastic orchid factory is an artist-run organization founded by award-winning dance artists James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam in 2008 on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlili̓lw̓ətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) people.
Plastic orchid factory makes, supports and advocates for divergent artworks that are pluralistic in practice and in form. Using the body as a first line of inquiry, its programming encourages a blending of disciplines and approaches to create new frameworks for making and experiencing live art.
The company offers seasons of activity that support artists at all stages of work – from inquiry to presentation. Artist-led initiatives for research, experimentation, and dialogue sit alongside dynamic in-house creation/production cycles and platforms for connecting local audiences with artists who make work on the periphery of the mainstream.
As a producing company, plastic orchid factory has devised over 20 original works that have been presented in galleries, theatres, and community halls across Turtle Island. The newest work in development, “catching up to the future of our past” is a love to midlife performed by Gnam and LeFebvre Gnam. Set within a retro-futurist astral bubble, transported onto a 22-foot revolving stage, the work premieres in 2026.
In 2017, plastic orchid factory established Left of Main, transforming the former Park Lock Seafood Restaurant into an artist-run space in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown.
