BIRD REQUIEM is a series of three assemblages combining stopped clocks and watches with stuffed specimens as well as historical illustrations of North American birds. A passenger pigeon, a species extinct since 1914, finds itself perched on a wall clock without hands, whose time has stopped. In the clock is a nest, in which is sheltered an egg of the Eastern bluebird, a species whose survival was once a concern. An Eskimo curlew, a critically endangered species, is perched among broken watches. Although the curlew is not an extinct bird today, no specimen has been seen since 1963. A mantel clock, whose hands point to one minute to midnight, accompanies the specimens. The numbers have been replaced by illustrations of North American birds, also extinct, critically endangered or endangered.
The project borrows a traditional style of presentation from history museums to raise public awareness of the current issue of species loss. Through these three devices, the artist invites us to think about this worrying environmental situation.
Acknowledgment: This project is carried out with support from the territorial partnership program of the Conseil des Arts et de la culture de l’Estrie (CALQ). It was assembled thanks to the generous expertise and loans of specimens from the Musée de la nature et des sciences de Sherbrooke (MNS2) to the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke (MBAS). Finally, BIRD REQUIEM is possible thanks to the support and donations of more than 200 broken watches from relatives, friends and acquaintances.
In August 2021, police in Halifax, Nova Scotia, dismantled multiple homeless encampments across the city. The police confronted a crowd of protesters and arrested numerous individuals. Like other similar events in Canada, this one left behind corpses of makeshift shelters. GHOST ENCAMPMENTS is made up of the poles of different tents, broken or abandoned. This project is a reminder of these habitations which have been the “home” of many.
EMERGENCY QUILTS is a series of emergency blankets (a light metal-coated sheet designed to trap body heat) ornamented with traditional quilt patterns. It is an act of solidarity with the rising number of homeless people in Canada. This “Rail Fence” quilt pattern is the first of a series started in Halifax, Nova Scotia (where the number of homeless people doubled in 2021), as the initial phase of a larger community project.
The first prototype was offered for the auction of the local Organization Wonder’neath Art Society, which shared the profit with Shelter Nova Scotia.
Acknowledgment: The production of this project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
What if a sentient Mother Earth had enough of being abused by humans and was sending its most notorious marine predators after us?
LES DENTS DE LA MER* is a group of shark fins emerging from the ground to tail the public on land. The project appears as a playful intervention and a cautionary tale about the consequences of messing up the ecosystem. The fins were installed for the first time in the coastal city of Annapolis Royal (Nova Scotia), like they were coming inland from the Atlantic Ocean.
*LES DENTS DE LA MER can be translated as "The teeth of the Sea". It is the French title of the American natural horror film series JAWS.
SHADOWS OF AN EPOCH is an ephemeral mural including shadows of roaming wolves painted on the campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, in St. John’s. It is a collective reminder that the Newfoundland Wolf roamed the island until its extinction due to colonization in 1930. Similar to an oral tradition, these shadows are an invitation to gather and speak in a hushed voice: remember that wolves roamed the hilly and the rugged inland of the island for thousands of years; do not forget, share, and learn from it.
Acknowledgment: This project would not have been possible without the generosity of the Grenfell Art Gallery of Memorial University and the Natural History Collections of the Rooms.
Press
Spotlight on the MUN Street Art Wall
Linda Browne
Business and Arts Newfoundland and Labrador — October 16, 2023
Read the article
Share and Learn: Street wall mural in response to climate emergency and colonization
Mandy Cook
Gazette — September 15, 2022
Read the article
Une murale en mémoire du loup de Terre-Neuve
Caroline Lévesque
Radio-Canada — September 12, 2022
Listen to the interview
Une murale en mémoire du loup de Terre-Neuve
Caroline Lévesque
Radio-Canada — September 12, 2022
Read the article
Linda Browne
Business and Arts Newfoundland and Labrador — October 16, 2023
Read the article
Share and Learn: Street wall mural in response to climate emergency and colonization
Mandy Cook
Gazette — September 15, 2022
Read the article
Une murale en mémoire du loup de Terre-Neuve
Caroline Lévesque
Radio-Canada — September 12, 2022
Listen to the interview
Une murale en mémoire du loup de Terre-Neuve
Caroline Lévesque
Radio-Canada — September 12, 2022
Read the article