Flourish - 2003 (installation view)

Flourish Series: Sub Rosa, Influx, Bloom and Cluster
Screenprint, paint, varnish on wood panels
Dimensions: each 203cm 274cm (80" x 108")
Photo: Cheryl O'Brien
Exhibition history: Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, ON, 2003, The Art Gallery of Sudbury, Sudbury, ON, 2004, Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, PQ, 2005, Koffler Gallery, Toronto, ON, 2006
Collections: Private collections

In Sub Rosa, Influx, Bloom and Cluster, invasions of viruses infiltrate large fields of repeating all over designs printed on wooden panels. The curved edges of these patterned fields define them within the rectangular supports as curtains or hangings. Their stylized swags relate to art historical conventions of representing cloth hangings as flat patterned surfaces defined by a simplified shape. The virus images may initially suggest embroidered embellishments and encrustations of gemstones or pearls used in rich historical textiles and garments. However, on closer inspection they introduce a foreign element into the body of the pattern. They cluster and spread their graphic, often crystalline forms through the designs. Both in their arrangement and their form these invaders are revealed to be at odds with their ordered surroundings.