BOREALIS:arrhythmia is a temporary, 200-foot-long gestural painting installed in Bonavista, Newfoundland, in summer 2025. Hand-painted on Tyvek© and hung in reverse, the work allows ink to bleed through the material, softening black marks into ethereal impressions—an abstract visual heartbeat of land, body, and memory.
Drawing on Houston’s VERSO technique, the installation transforms Tyvek©—an industrial architectural membrane—into a skin of artistic expression. The work reflects on shelter as both necessity and privilege, addressing colonial land use, resource extraction, construction waste, and the gendered economies shaping rural and urban life.
Painted boreal species connect Houston’s childhood in Saskatchewan/kisiskâciwani-sīpiy with her present in Newfoundland/Ktaqmkuk, tracing the circumpolar reach of the boreal biome. Collapsing public art with building skin, BOREALIS:arrhythmia asks how we might rethink our responsibilities to land, memory, and community.
