Biophilia

Artist Statement

How can one even begin to comprehend “deep time”?  Scientists tell us that our earth is over 4.5 billion years old and that this time period is divided into four eons. Manitoba’s shaping began almost 2 billion years ago, and this process continues today. I have found a poetic Korean definition for an eon helpful. It’s the time it would take for a mile-high granite mountain to wear down to sea level from an angel brushing it with a wing tip once every 1,000 years.

 It is with this mindset that I explore our wild spaces and contemplate the forces that created such a vast array of colours, shapes and textures.  The work of artist Andy Goldsworthy has been very influential in how I see the abundance of raw materials for compositions. Some are as I find them and others have a little help from me in their arrangement. An exception is the dragonfly fossil, I am glad I wasn’t around when our skies were full of creatures with 75cm wingspans! Using my photos as a reference I re-create these compositions into mono-prints and collages using the prints.  This process helps me to find perspective for our place in the spiral of time.