Monument

In 2013-14 I had the opportunity to assist Adrienne Alison as her assistant in sculpting a War of 1812 memorial for Parliament Hill, Triumph Through Diversity. We sculpted seven, two meter figures in eight months- needless to say it was super intense! I learned alot from Adrienne who passed away too soon in 2018. Adrienne was trained in medical science in making prosthetics and would not have me sculpting without hold a pair of callipers in hand. After I proved myself as a competent sculptor, was put in charge of all the guns, bags and straps. Near the end I worked on much of the clothing and fine details. At the time my youngest was under one and my in-laws gratefully looked after him which became easier after I found us a studio close to their house! I had also been going to OCADU part time and I took a break while sculpting for Adrienne. It was a busy time-  I’d put meals in a slowcooker in the morning while making lunches and go to work straight after dropping big kids to school and little one to nonnas. Working on a monument gave me the occasion to think a lot about the role of monuments and their creators- a theme that has followed me throughout my art practice. My ‘Before Davenport’ project was made after sculpting on the monument as a way to questioning alternate monuments. My master’s work, GRIT had a lot to do with thinking about what is chosen to memorialize, something I still think and make work about. Working for Adrienne also gave me the money to buy my first kiln and camper to take my kids camping.

Visiting with my youngest who was a baby when I worked on it, he said the figures are practically his brothers:)

Fun to visit and remember sculpting all those details- some I sculpted with toothpicks! We used real items on loan from museums and Adrienne always sculpted with live models- in fact if someone didn’t show up I’d squeeze into the gear and model. lol

One of the figures behind me, they were wrapped in damp blankets and plastic as we sculpted with waterbased clay.

Adrienne and I after the work was complete- on Georgian Bay, chasing the sunset!