Dreams and Realities

      Dreams and Realities (Art Gallery of Algoma. Photos by Roberta Bondar and textile pieces by Carole Sabiston. To May 24th, 2015)
     The curator’s ambition was to help us see the connection between place and self, an odd ambition considering that not a single human figure appears in any of the works. But of course there is a human present, the one who looked through the viewfinder, pored over the images, and selected the ones to print. And the one who layered textiles, their shapes and colours and textures, until what she looked at echoed what she saw and expressed what she felt. We take their places, and with luck and empathy, we will engage with the places as they did.
     This engagement is thoroughly Canadian: an awareness, always present, sometimes in the foreground of our selves, sometimes in the background. It’s the knowledge that we are interlopers, that our huddling cities will not protect us, that the land was here before us and will be here after us.
     Colours are lush and subtle, textures are bold and  and faint, composition is clear and intricate. I found every image and textile piece at least interesting. The photo of sheep on a rock face, and the round construction of landscape, sky and clouds were among my favourites. ***