Lake Superior

Evening Sun
2013
Oil on canvas
139.7 x 111.76 cm
On loan from the artist, courtesy of Angell Gallery

Evening Sun helps me remember the state of mind that comes from a four-day hike, void of people, knowing that returning along the same path is my only future prospect. Harsh surroundings, a heavy load and an aching body seem to lead directly to a silence of the mind. This turn-around point in Pukaskwa Provincial Park, on the shores of Lake Superior, marked around 60 k from the starting point and also 60 k from the next juicy non-dehydrated meal. For inspiration I often take to wild places in Northern Ontario, but the shores of Superior have a special hold on me that I can only seem to explain through paint.

Giving Context Project
Photo by Finn O’Hara

Lake Superior

Two Clouds
2015
Oil on board
58.47 x 58.4 cm
On loan from the artist, courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery

Marathon Harbour
2015
Oil on board
58.4 x 58.4 cm
On loan from the artist, courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery

I first saw the country north of Superior while tree planting years ago, soon after starting to paint. Tree-planting terrain is not pretty. It is mostly open, but with unwanted haggard stands left to droop and rot, with slash piles (discarded branches), patches of uneven rock, and swamp left entirely without order. I couldn’t stop looking at it. Afterwards, hitchhiking home along the north shore, I longed to stop and look forever. It was the random array of elements that I couldn’t resist, and it is still the chance arrangement of things that sparks a painting. Three recent trips have reinforced this effect. The huge hills crush all categories and block attempts to indicate with paint. I can only defer in colour to a presence that I do not understand, leaving viewers to fend for themselves.

Lake Superior

Leaving the Soo: Trading Places
2013
Chromogenic print
45.7 x 81.3 cm
On loan from the artist

Stuck in Whitefish Bay: Trading Places
2013
Chromogenic print
45.7 x 81.3 cm
On loan from the artist

I am a fine art photographer and avid racing sailor living in a housing co-operative for artists on Toronto’s central waterfront. When I first moved here, the malting factory framing one side of the park that I look out onto was still in use. I loved the distant sound of the compressors, and the sweet/sour malty smell that drifted through my open windows on a hot summer’s night. Now long disused, and considered an eyesore by many, Canada Malting and the Victory Soya Mills at the far end of the harbour remain as noble bookends. Statuesque reminders that the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway are our natural transportation infrastructure. Shipping is celebrated in song and story yet forgotten by most urbanites as relentless gentrification pushes heavy industry from its place in the landscape.