I'm showing in two places this Spring: My Garden Paradise (Contained) at Harbourfront and Time and Again at Open Studio. I hope you can see the shows before they close at the end of April. (Maybe then it really will be Spring)

March 8-April 27, 2008
Service Canada Window
Harbourfront Centre, York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto

My Garden Paradise (Contained)         Longing (for Spring)

What do I hold sacred? I hold sacred what has been given to me in trust: my environment and family memory. Like most collections, these biscuit tins advertising an ideal world, were recognized in memory. The gathering and arrangement of this ephemera, parallels my concern with collections of natural detritus in my other artwork, and grew as connections were made environmentally and in memory. A desire for order in my home and studio means each tin holds other collections and layers of memory and meaning, from buttons and threads (saved like my mother's), my tins hold spices and recipes in the kitchen (also like her's), floral and animal costume jewelry in my bedroom, and collections of postcards, plant and animal specimens or other reference objects and images in my studio. My Garden Paradise (Contained) speaks of my desire for an ordered and contained, eternally blooming garden paradise of my living and working life—and right now, hope and longing for Spring.