Island Picnic

Installation view 'Island Picnic', at Beaver Hall, Toronto, 2007.

​A lonely, tall lamp post at the end of a pier, gushing water fountains on Center Island, striped kiosks scattered on expansive greens, repetitive rushing sound of waves on a windy, atmospheric day.  Swirling cyclone of debris, morning glories outside my studio, chocolate brown eyes, butterflies. Fragments of a distant Moody Blues song come to mind:  "Tuesday afternoon - something calls to me - the trees are drawing me near - I’ve got to find out why."

Out of this summer reverie came Island Picnic, a drawing installation that includes many component parts: mixed media drawings, collages, snapshots of poignant features of the island park, materials found in the park and sculptural elements. Island Picnic was originally created during a residency at Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts on Toronto Island (a city park that is a ten minute ferry ride away from the downtown) and later recreated at Beaver Hall.  While the work was a spontaneous response to the sights and sound of the island, which is a complex mixture of wilderness and beaches, groomed parkland, family midway and quaint residential cottages, I also consider the component parts to be autonomous and will eventually separate them from the whole for more conventional exhibition.