Field of Vision, 1985

Art In Situ , Ottawa
curators: Jean Bridge, Marlene Creates, Judith Parker McFadden, Carla Whiteside
Ottawa Festival of the Arts
basement room: orange peels, paint, grass, leaves, ten watt bulb as light source, 18' square x 9' high
photo: Terry Edwards-Frampton

This exhibition, based on the theme of place, was my first introduction to the art community of Ottawa. I did not realize, at the time, what a gift I had been offered by being invited to participate in such an event. Field of Vision was an installation in the basement of the former fire station: a map of the night sky over L'Outaouais/National Capital region on the ceiling and walls, earth, grass and leaves on the cement floor, and a single dim 10 watt bulb to illuminate the star shaped orange peels that marked the constellations of the October sky. The work was based on the notions of interior, exterior, light and shadow, the physical and the spiritual, inner and outer space, and microscopic and macroscopic levels of organization of the cosmos. The space became a subterranean sanctuary where people could linger in the grass and look at an expansive skyscape.