Divide - 2001 (detail)

125 felt elements, pins (wall installation)
Elements, each: 10cm x 10cm to 20cm x 40cm (4" x 4" to 8" x 16")
Dimensions variable, elements are arranged in a 2' square grid to cover a wall
As shown: 3.7m x 16m x (12' x 52') in the solo exhibition "Pattern Fields" at Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, PQ
Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
Exhibition history: Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, ON, 2001; Art Museum of the Americas, Washington DC, USA, 2001; Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, NS, 2002; Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, PQ, 2005

The cut felt elements comprising the work are fragments of a Victorian allover design. The design, representing stylized forms from nature combined with decorative flourishes, is literally deconstructed - pulled apart into its constituent fragments - in the work. From a distance the resulting glyphs suggest text and language. Close inspection reveals the pins and a reference to natural history specimen displays.

Related artist project in:
Visible Language Journal, Rhode Island School of Design, Issue 42.1: After the Grave: Language and Materiality in Contemporary Art, Guest Editors: David Scott Armstrong and Patrick Mahon, 2008