Hanging from a Thread is a sculpture and a performance exploring the fragile and temporal nature of life, paper and words. The sculpture is formed from paper threads spun from the Grolier Encyclopedia Canadiana 1958. The threads have been knotted and solidified with a sugar-water solution to create a live-size human figure.

The performance is a questioning of my idea of the father and the sacredness of the sculptural object. It is an opportunity for me to explore my story of grieving a loss of trust. It is also a story about my own mortality. It is about imagining a new and unexpected ending to this story. This work is about transformation.

Hanging from a Thread was part of the 2021, PHI Foundation Residency program. The performance  was scheduled for the last day of the exhibition at the PHI Foundation, but because of the pandemic it was held later in the spring of 2022 at Produit Rien. The performance was live-streamed and is now available for viewing on the PHI youtube channel which you can view below.

La Berge bouge / The Shifting Seashore

Deux fois par jour, la marée marque le rivage de l’océan d’une trainée d’algues, d’objets flottants, de déchets et d’ordures. Dans un monde où les océans montent, les côtes se déplacent vers l’intérieur des terres, où sera le littoral de Barachois dans cinquante ans ? La Berge bouge est une réflexion sur le mouvement de l’eau et la transformation de l’environnement naturel provoqué par les changements climatiques.

Chaque jour de la Biennale, Karen Trask parcourra le rivage pour recueillir les déchets de la mer et les tresser avec les herbes et les fleurs sauvages qu’elle ramasse sur le bord des routes avoisinantes. Lorsque cette corde tressée s’allonge, elle est enroulée en boule. Vers la fin de la Biennale, la balle est déroulée où l’eau et la terre se rencontrent.

La performance de Karen Trask nous rappelle que toute vie est fragile et en constante évolution. Ayant grandi dans une ferme, elle a développé un profond respect pour les rythmes du monde naturel. Les actions et les gestes de son travail font écho aux pratiques ancestrales de récolte et de glanage et aux processus artisanaux qui ont évolué pour transformer les matériaux. La Berge bouge révèle un passé toujours présent et un avenir influencé par les choix d’aujourd’hui.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Twice daily, the tide marks the ocean’s shoreline with a mixed trail of seaweed, flotsam, jetsam and garbage. In a world of rising oceans, the coastlines are moving inland. Where will the shoreline of Barachois be in fifty years? La Berge bouge (The Shifting Shoreline) is a reflection on the movement of water and the transformation of the natural environment impacted by climate change.

Each day of the Biennale, Karen Trask will scavenge the shore to gather the sea’s cast-offs and braid them together with the grasses and wildflowers she collects from nearby roadsides. As this braided rope lengthens, it is wound into a ball. Near the end of the Biennale, the ball is unravelled along the shoreline.

Karen Trask’s performance is a reminder that all life is fragile and constantly changing. Growing up on a farm, she developed a profound respect for the rhythms of the natural world. The actions and gestures of her work echo age-old practices of harvesting and gleaning and the craft processes that have evolved for transforming materials. La Berge bouge reveals a past that is always present and a future influenced by today’s choices.

Video of La Berge bouge / The Shifting Seashore https://vimeo.com/user22537463