6.7.09

Flying Books + Dear Neighbours
My hometown show, "Notion", opened on April 17, 2009, at the Art Gallery of Prince Albert
the 4-year-old public art gallery that was built as a complement to the Rawlinson Centre for the Performing Arts. It's a nice, lofty space, 1800 square feet, with a ceiling height that spans a range
of 16 to 30 feet at centre. I enjoyed planning the layout of the work; 7 large paintings, 9 large monotypes and an installation of books.
I'd imagined the flying books as a metaphor for both homecoming and migration. The books,
(all authors, titles and subjects based in Saskatchewan) straddle small rooftops. The rooftops have varying pitch and I'd hoped that, seen front-on, they might resemble birds in flight. On a small floating shelf, above a small stack of books, I installed a tiny model of the house I grew up in.
And one of my favourite photographs from the opening shows our dear former neighbour,
Gertie Tennant, gazing up at the old house.


The house model was built by Garry Lundgren, the rooftops were constructed by Derrick Carter,
the roof angles were calculated by Helen O'Toole and the books were borrowed from the
J.M. Cuelanaere Library in Prince Albert.




And, here are a few more photos from the Notion Exhibition.