2007 – “This is Not a Renaissance Garden”.
Outdoor works by Lois Andison, J. Lynn Campbell, Shayne Dark, E.J.Lightman, Anne O’Callaghan, Orest Tataryn, Robert Wiens at the Oeno Gallery, Picton, Ontario. Curated by Anne O’Callaghan.
“I have tried to establish a natural dialogue between landscape and our human constructions, both psychological and physical. In these works I want to explore the relationship between the pieces themselves and their surrounding context. In doing so, this makes the area of installation actually part of the installation itself.
One piece will be a mirror with a three foot diameter with the word “fragile” sandblasted into it. The mirror would reflect the surroundings outdoors, allowing the viewer to examine our reflection of nature itself and nature’s fragility. The dichotomy of viewing nature through a human creation, a mirror, with a human intention (the word ‘fragile’), shows how we distort our conception of the natural world to fit our human intuitions of understanding.
The refuse of nature has always interested me. I came across a cylindrical piece of bark, as well as a large pinecone. I casted them in bronze to imbue them with my sensibility of aesthetics. This shows the dichotomy between what nature created and human reflections of nature. Bronze is a fascinating material because it transforms and is charged with a seemingly sacred energy. The mythical aspects to bronze (alchemy) and seeds (representing life and rebirth) add a visceral aura to the installation.”