Congratulations to Chrystal Sparrow on the recent installation of "Salish Blue Heron Housepost". This work is carved from old growth red cedar, and measures 12' tall. Chrystal comes from a long line of Coast Salish artists, weavers and three generations of carvers. Her late father Irving Sparrow was a master carver that passed down the tradition to Chrystal and her
brother Christopher. Chrystal's design for this work was inspired by her father's Salish blue heron design.
Location: Musqueam Capital Corporation, Lelem, Vancouver, BC
Artist Catherine Widgery's most recent public work "Wind Veil" was installed over the weekend in Burnaby! "Wind Veil" brings to our attention the universal patterns that surround us: how light and wind interact constantly with surfaces and animate our world with a delicate wonder.
The lines of cable on which are mounted dichroic glass ‘flags’ that turn in the wind interact with the glass façade and its reflective blue and laser etched surface. Projected color, reflected glints of light and shadows all are part of the ‘veil’ through which the surface of the glass is seen, so a subtle and delicate dance of light and wind plays each day.
Location: Marcon, 2421 Alpha Avenue, Burnaby, BC
We headed out to Surrey this past weekend for the install of a new sculpture by @ken__lum ! In this work, Ken plays with the binaries between urban and rural, present and past, and city life and country life that delineate Surrey. The piece is a reduced scale replica of Cheung's Food Market, which was located on 168th Street in Surrey from 1968 to 2008.
Location: Century Group, Century City at King George Boulevard and 98A Avenue Avenue, Surrey, BC
We took a quick trip out to Calgary to visit the team at @carvelcreative ! They are hard at work fabricating this new piece by Jun Kaneko, installing soon for The City of Lougheed by @shapepropertiescorp .
"A butterfly with traditional Musqueam elements drinks graciously from a dewdrop resting in the tall, damp morning cat-tail grasses. My inspiration comes from the beautiful surroundings of Burnaby’s popular parks today, which I often visit with my children. I aim to convey nature’s beauty into the urban space to complement the featured rain gardens and showcase them for what they are - a more responsible way to coexist with the land.
Three more water droplets in the rain garden are frozen at the moment when they re-connect with the earth, creating mini shockwaves and initiating dancing ripples in the water. The journey to the sky and back again is complete, and they wait again to return to the sky. Mirror-polished stainless steel reflects the viewer within a dancing halo of radiating blue ripples, demonstrating the power of one raindrop when collected with another. What is an ocean but infinite drops of water?
This installation is a chance to reflect on the history of the surrounding lands while being reflected by the dewdrop and reflective grasses. This shared connection of themselves looking up at the larger-than-life butterfly high above will humble the viewer and hopefully will carry an awareness of the existence of all life who’ve lived and will live off these lands and waterways of Burnaby." - Kelly Cannell.
Congratulations to artist Kelly Cannell on the recent installation of her work "Reflection" in Burnaby!
Location: Thind Properties, 6585 Sussex Avenue, Burnaby, BC
Big congratulations to master carver Xwalacktun on the recent installation of his work ESHLHIHKW’IWS (Making Connections), commissioned by @shapepropertygroup for the City of Lougheed. A truly gorgeous artwork by an incredibly talented artist!
Location: 9855 Austin Avenue, Burnaby, BC
The Ballard Fine Art team got creative last week for our holiday staff party at @claymates.studio 🎨
Wishing you a happy holiday season and all the best for 2024!
Last week we were thrilled to be able to attend the installation of an incredible new work, collaboratively created by artists Susan A. Point, Brent Sparrow and Thomas Cannell, and installed at Lelem Village. You can read the artwork statement from the artists below:
"We’ve created a symbolic gateway, which is always an open doorway to the Lelem community. Our carved old-growth western red cedar gateway symbolizes relationships. Both figures are ornamented with storyboard artworks (plaques) featuring salmon swimming upriver, a symbol of journey and renewal; this represents our time to fish and honour salmon. The male welcome figure has hummingbirds on his blanket; hummingbirds are known as messengers between the spirit world and our world and safely lead us on our life path as they can stop, wait, and backtrack to stay with us when we need them. The female welcome figure has a butterfly on her blanket; butterflies remind us of our transformations and teach us to do so with beauty, balance, and grace. Our welcome figures feature tapestry and mountain and valley motifs prominently throughout."
Completed in 2020, the public art "Koco, Brewers Park, August 11, 2019," by Peter Gazendam is a significant sculpture located in East Vancouver. The subject of the work is a group of women who practice “square” or “plaza” dancing in the neighbourhood.
This tradition has roots in both ancient and modern Chinese history, and is a popular exercise routine performed to music in squares, plazas and parks around the world. These local performances have been a consistent scene in the otherwise rapidly changing community of Cedar Cottage. The sculpture depicts one of these dancers, Koco, in six poses, each pose distinct but merging into one another.
Location: The Victoria, Strand, Vancouver, BC.
