Site-specific exhibition work on two panels: the top panel representing memory and the bottom panel representing the exterior of the gallery building are graphite drawings on St. Armand paper. Each panel measures 28 cm x 152 cm.
Excerpt from an interview by Nadja Sayej
for the exhibition Once Removed
Modern Fuel Gallery, Kingston, Ontario
March 15 to April 22, 2006
How does “Moving Along” connect with your “Le Boulevard” project?
Le Boulevard is a project about identifying cultural markers along common spaces in public urban settings. In 2004, I saw some trees that were wrapped and looked very fragile; they were between a slushy boulevard and a parking lot. This piece is about focusing. We look at one of the windows and we have the absence of the others. It obliterates the others when we focus on one to look closely.The wall was painted grey behind the drawings and this introduced the piece to become three dimensional, what was the strategy behind that?
I wanted it to take on a materiality, to make it more visible. As artists, we try to make the work compelling, framing things in a way that works conceptually. The grey framing device combined with the small windows in the drawings makes the work cinematic, moving the viewer along.Where did you take the photos cited in the work?
The piece in the show was made specifically for that site. It’s a response to the exterior of the building Wrapped trees embody a meaning for me that I wanted to make specific to the gallery site. I took lots of photos outside on site, but there were no trees. Investigating the sidewalk was a part of my visual research.Is that why you chose grey?
Yes, it works really well, it’s totally urban. The trees I sketch or draw are always in a common space. It’s something else when time and care is taken to wrap a tree in a public space. There is something very special in that. It is something worth noting.