Dying.exhibit 2023 — sandra gregson

I’m delighted to have my installation, Cairn (1907) included in Dying.exhibit at Artscape Youngplace in Toronto. The exhibition runs from January 14 to January 31, 2023.

I did a very small version of this installation whilst in Iceland at a residency at SIM in 2018 and subsequently a larger version in my front room gallery space at my home in Toronto; it was wonderful to have the installation included in this exhibition at Artscape Youngplace.

Cairns, human made stacks of stones, have been constructed since pre-history as markers for burial. Cairn (1907) is a stack of collected stones; each stone has been wrapped with discarded plastic. Stones, formed over millions of years from minerals that compose the earth, convey an immense sense of time. Synthetic plastic, which is manufactured from minerals extracted from the earth, was first made in 1907. It is often used once and discarded.

Plastic infiltrates molecules and organisms to disrupt what took millions of years to evolve causing long-lasting environmental damage and death to many birds, fish, and animals. Wrapping and binding are part of ritual and symbolic acts linked to death.

This installation includes a viewer participation component; plastic and additional stones are alongside the installation and viewers are invited to select and wrap a stone to add to the cairn.