Turbulence consists of a small working tornado in a fishbowl with miniatures from the everyday (people, animals, cars, bicycles, fire hydrants, etc.) This piece is seen from two perspectives; one as a small sculptural glass work, hypnotically rendering a tornado in a perpetual state of forming, while a magnet twists and twirls miniature particles into a sort of “chaotic order”. The second viewpoint is a large circular projection, from a video camera recording the movement of the twister from above. This renders the tornado as a roulette wheel – a game of chance as a metaphor for life.
The Tornado drawings were the starting point for Turbulence. I originally envisioned tornadoes in cubes – boxed, packaged and harnessed. However, given that the world is round, and in keeping with the cyclonic motion of the tornado, rotating in a vortex with no edges, the drawings became more spherical, fishbowl like spheres.
Captions:
Fishbowl: hand painted HO scale miniatures, plexiglass base, magnetic stirrer, water, and lights. size variable.
Drawings: Ink, charcoal, pencil and vellum, 20” x 20” (50 x 50cm)
Exhibits:
Unfallen, 2014, Warren G. Flowers Gallery, Dawson College, Montreal, QC
Unfallen, November 17, 2011 – January 28, 2012 Curated by: McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, ON
