Consists of 207 paintings and sculptures mounted on wood mantels.
Featured in the exhibition "Repeated Visits to the Museum of Life", Gallery@501, Sherwood Park, Alberta, March 2020.
This work has developed out of a collection of abandoned objects that are reminders of human interaction with the land. What might seem inconsequential or incomplete has become an important connection to understanding the landscape at a time when disposability threatens our very existence.
By separating the ‘artefacts’ from their purpose and environment I wanted to see how my interpretations would develop to reflect my memory of the landscape. The more I did this, the more the different iterations took on symbolic qualities. This led me to questions about the act of commemoration and the definition of monument.
I felt I needed to find a way to better express my own questions about these traditional definitions and methods, which I often feel do little to increase our understanding or tolerance. The paintings and small sculptures have developed a language of their own (there are currently over two hundred of them). This is why I have chosen to place each of the pieces on a ‘pedestal’ in a slightly absurd recreation of past traditions with new content, deliberately blurring the lines between memory, reality and symbolism.
I continue to learn from the work. I continue to experiment with the possibilities of presentation and I consider it a work in progress.
