Blind Eye
An Exhibition at 8x8 gallery
Allow me to Introduce...and Take Away...
An Exhibition at the Haida Gwaii Museum
These pieces have conceptual relationships with each other and were displayed in the following pairs.
Bloom and Divide
Wreck and Balance
Snag and Climb
Transplant and Harvest
Hang and Pile
An Exhibition at the Haida Gwaii Museum
This body of work is influenced by our struggles with and against the natural environment, the push and pull we exert on nature. It is focused on the roles humans play in controlling, manipulating, and altering the natural environment. Manipulation of the environment
is significantly concerning in an enclosed ecosystem such as island ecosystems , due to the lack of genetic diversity and the associated severe and often unintended consequences.
This body of work is influenced by Haida Gwaii. It is fictional, and based on true events. There are endless examples of human
influence which disturb the natural balance on Haida Gwaii and elsewhere. This exhibition is a small expression of something quite large and conceptually complex. It is an aesthetic simplification of human-environmental relationships.
I have chosen 5 examples of pairings, which have had a significant impact on these islands. Each piece is framed by hand with local yellow cedar and hemlock. The glass medium is used to express the beauty and fragility of life and of island ecosystems.
The pairing of pieces and of specific visual elements, represents the idea of inversion and reflection in what I explore conceptually. These pairings all relate to the concept of alien vs. native, introduced vs.endemic, and deliberate vs. unintended motivations,
causes and consequences of human behaviour.
It seems ironic that two very similar species (or the very same species for that matter) could be treated so differently according to
context; some we want, some we don't. Sometimes we like them, sometimes we don't. It all depends on the meaning and value we
create and associate with each particular species.