The works in this part of the portfolio are from 2007-2010. My general interest is in how objects and images from everyday life have significance (poetically, socially and politically). Since participating in the Banff Centre Walking and Art residency in 2007, my focus has been on walking as both a methodology and subject, and on the making and use of walking sticks and related devices in particular.
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During a 2007 Walking and Art residency at the Banff Centre, I made walking sticks and related devices, exploring ways in which walking leaves traces and tracks in the landscape. Walking in the Banff area brings a certain frisson; there is always the possibility of dangerous encounters with other species, the elements, and difficult terrain.
Studio view · Banff Centre, 2007
Stamped leaves · Studio, Banff Centre, leaves, ink, 71 × 100 cm, 2007
Leaf · Poplar leaf, ink (stamped using walking stick/linocut) 4 × 2.5 cm, 2007
Wolf willow · Detail of walking stick, 101 cm (l), wolf willow, wood burning, 2007
Hooves · Detail of tips for walking sticks, each hoof is 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 cm, porcelain, glaze (raku fired), 2007
Spikes · Detail of tips for walking sticks, each spike is 15 cm (l), porcelain, glaze (raku fired), 2007
Walks · Installation view from group exhibition, The Other Gallery, Banff Centre, 2007
Stamp Sticks · detail, Wood walking sticks, carved lino stamps, poplar leaves, ink, 2007
In 2010, I participated in a two-week Banff Centre arts residency entitled Mountainstandardtime. I carried out a number of interactive, participatory walking activities, using devices such as stilts, walking sticks and blindfolds.
Pedestrian Detour · Walking activity for two people. Walking sticks, blindfolds, found signage. Construction site, Banff Centre, 2010
Pedestrian Detour · Walking activity for two people. Walking sticks, blindfolds, found signage. Construction site, Banff Centre, 2010
Pedestrian Detour · detail. Walking sticks, 2010
Stilts · Walking activity for two people. Stilts. Hoodoos Trail, Banff Centre, 2010
Stilts · detail. Walking activity for two people. Stilts. Hoodoos Trail, Banff Centre, 2010
The Other Gallery · Installation view, work in progress. Banff Centre, 2010
In 2009, Eryn Foster was artist-in-residence at the Gatekeeper’s Lodge, Point Pleasant Park, Halifax Nova Scotia. As part of her program of events Wanders in the Yonder, I presented Guided Walking, a project inspired in part by the painting The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The walking sticks, as prosthetic devices, form physical and cognitive links between the walkers and the topography.
Guided Walking · Walking activity for a small group. Walking sticks, bells, blindfolds. Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, 2009
Guided Walking · Walking activity for a small group. Walking sticks, bells, blindfolds. Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, 2009
Guided Walking · Walking activity for a small group. Walking sticks, bells, blindfolds. Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, 2009
Guided Walking · Walking activity for a small group. Walking sticks, bells, blindfolds. Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, 2009
Guided Walking · detail. Walking sticks, 2009
The 161 Gallon Gallery is an exhibition space in the form of a storage cupboard located on the landing halfway up the staircase of a house in Halifax. The measurements of the cupboard equate to 161 Imperial gallons. In September 2009, I prepared and situated 161 walking sticks in the gallery, and visitors were invited to select a stick to take away with them. I inscribed each stick with the date, a number, and a personalized message.
161 Walking Sticks · Gallery invitation, with image from Green Gardens Trail, Gros Morne National Park, 2009
161 Walking Sticks · Installation view. Each stick is 96 cm (length), 2009
161 Walking Sticks · Installation view. Woodburning tool and record book, 2009
161 Walking Sticks · detail, 2009
In 1803, British diarist and poet Dorothy Wordsworth made a walking tour of Scotland with her brother William. Her account, Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland, was published in 1874. In 2009, I was an artist in residence at the Full Tilt Creative Centre in McIvers, Newfoundland, and presented an exhibition and community walk entitled Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head. The works include drawings and sculptures (walking sticks), and make reference to walking, hunting, and writing. The location for the community walk was a local hill known as Big Head.
Poster for Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head · Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland, 2009
Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head · from the community walk and performance, Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland, 2009
Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head · from the community walk and performance, Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland, 2009
Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head · installation view of exhibition, Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland, 2009
Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head · installation view of exhibition, Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland, 2009
Dorothy and William · (sculptures/walkingsticks), wood, paint, 104 and 117 cm (length), 2009
Dorothy and William · (sculptures/walkingsticks), detail, from Recollections of a Tour Made to Big Head. Wood, paint, 104 and 117 cm (length), 2009