Soft Sculpture/Installations
Ursus Maritumus PFD. Polar Bear Life Vest Prototype. One Adult, Two Cub Vests. 2007, Various Materials.
This work is intended to be simultaneously serious, playful, and absurd. While polar bears are strong swimmers, they will face great challenges amid an increasingly warming arctic ecosystem. While we can avert disaster and equip ourselves with various tools and technologies to mitigate climatic shifts, other animals, such as polar bears, may not be so fortunate. How might we intervene in increasingly changing environments?
Detail of screen printing as it appears on the adult polar bear life vest.
The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike over 58 houses. Drawings on R-max housing insulation, metal washers, and house paint. Life Size and weight size of actual Shrike, 3.9”-4.5” (10-11.5 cm) height, 7.9”-9.1” (20-23 cm) in length. Weight 1.8 oz (50 g). In the collection of the Toronto Zoo, Toronto, Canada.
Southern Ontario has some of the most productive agricultural land in Canada. It is home to almost 13 million people and a rich diversity of plants and other animals life. As the population grows, the surrounding lands come under increasing pressure for developmental uses, such as homes, roads, and strip plazas. The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike is one of many species whose population continues to decline due to habitat alteration and degradation. The breeding program established by the Toronto Zoo has seen the release of many captive breed young Shrike and is a rare glimmer of hope for the species in the province. Ultimately, the long-term survival of the species depends on how we relate to the land.