on the horizon 
of your bones (2123)

On the horizon of your bones (2123) is a series of work made during a one-month summer artist-research residency at the VAV Gallery in the Visual Arts building at Concordia University.

This work is an investigation of time, place, and material. 

I drew inspiration from the 100 year old history of this specific site, currently home to the fine arts students, staff and faculty. The original structure was built in 1923, La Belle Garage. I drew inspiration from this timeframe as an anchor for present investigations and imagined futures.

What will be here 100 years from now?

This work is an investigation of time, place, and material. 

I drew inspiration from the 100 year old history of this specific plot of land, which is currently home to the fine arts students, staff and faculty. The original structure that was built here in 1923 was La Belle Garage. I wanted to use this instance in time as an anchor point to investigate what this space is today, looking for any remnants of this history by engaging the Concorida Archives to look at the photos we have on record of this building, which were primarily of its construction in the 1970’s. I spent the most time while working here imagining what the future may be 100 years from now. My shifting focus from past to future came from living in this present moment. I was more interested in appreciated and finding the beauty here and now. Preserving these moments for an uncertain future.

The first step in my creative process involved gathering recycled paper from the site, from which I made new and experimental paper to draw, paint, and write with. Each sheet of handmade paper was dried on the concrete floor, windows, and the cinder block walls. The water used to make the paper pulp came from the restroom faucets.

It was important for me to use what the site offered for material as it holds the stories and energy of the people here today. And making the new sheets of paper become a labor of love

The paper bowl was again dyed it in a turmeric gelatin dispersion, as the pulp dye bath was fading quickly when exposed to natural light. Now it carries the essence of the summer sun and bones.

There is a silver lining of hope circling the rim, and a chalk gesso interior centre. I made the chalk gesso from sodium carbonate and gelatin, the bones of the living on land and sea - symbolic of our unbreakable bond with time and the traces of life that remain long after we are gone.

I wanted to push my experimentation with the traditional chalk gesso surface by preparing a series of paper panels in chalk. The resulting paper flows frozen in this resilient time bath, and its questionable archival quality speaks to the horizon of an unknown future. I may or may not paint with ink or egg tempera on these sheets. They have a beautiful and buttery soft texture that gives way to the features of the imperfect paper surface that roll like ocean waves or sheets in the wind.

The turmeric paper bowl is a vessel to carry our shared stories.

I designed an experiential installation inviting visitors to write or draw their own message to the future and place it in the bowl, located in the centre of the tape labyrinth.

I initially planned to use stones from the courtyard to design the labyrinth, but the tape reminded me of the countless arrows taped throughout the building from the events and exhibitions of the year that remain in place long after. To follow them today, you may as well be lost.

The final paper studies have become an open sketchbook. Documenting the building, people, and land through surface rubbings, mappings, poetry, observational sketches, conversations, colour and sound studies. The small sculptural works are made from salt dough and used to gather imprints from the building for printmaking.