Carved on the Canadian Shield: Four artists from three countries visited Haliburton for a three week sculpture symposium in 2017 in celebration of Dysart 150, Ontario 150, and Canada 150. Beginning with a block of limestone, each artist was tasked with creating a piece that reflected the theme of carving on the Canadian Shield.
“Storied Moons” commemorates the 150 year anniversary of Canada, as well as the 150 year anniversaries of Ontario, and Dysart.
A tower of three limestone moons are wrapped in incised “audio tapes,” representing the voices that tell the stories of their histories in the making.
In my sculptures I often explore the notions of time, memory, history, and identity using moons as time capsules. Since childhood I have thought of moons as keepers of time, recording the events of the previous day as they set each morning and the sun rises.
In another series of sculptures I use strips of metal to form video and audio tapes which I wrap around figures and forms to represent the memories of voices that we hear throughout our lives -- voices that stay with us, or come back to us again and again, and impact the formation of our beliefs and identities.
For “Storied Moons” I have combined these two themes and metaphors to represent the triple histories, and the voices that narrate their stories. And if we listen carefully, we can hear 150 years of individual and collective voices echo throughout the sculpture forest.