EDGE

Description:

The Saskatchewan River Delta, one of the largest inland river deltas in North America, is a far cry from the flat, golden wheat fields that blanket Saskatchewan in the popular imagination. 

It’s the inspiration for eight pieces by Mexican-born artist Gabriela Garcia-Luna, who documents the delta’s solitude, rich biodiversity and ecological fragility in digital photographs, prints on rag paper, wooden sculptures, video and sound. 

Visiting the area made Garcia-Luna, who is based in Saskatoon, acutely aware of the environmental consequences of human consumption. For instance, she is passionate about rescued wood. “These are all trees,” she says, pointing to two works, Affinity and Structure for Emptiness. 

Large prints on rag paper, Traces I and Traces II, are tacked to wooden pallets – more trees turned into disposable junk. These constellations of delicate plants in cool violets and succulent greens are book-ended by jewel-like photographs of flowers and ferns. 

The biggest threat to the delta is not deforestation but hydroelectricity. Altered is a definitive change in tone from the rapturous meditations on precious details elsewhere in the gallery. A composite image of the shoreline, it is marred by streaks that stretch the river’s edge into sharp peaks and valleys. The piece evokes sudden fluctuations in water level caused by the E.B. Campbell Dam upstream near Carrot River, Sask. It’s reminiscent of a heart-rate monitor’s jagged line. [1]

The ideas, images, and work presented in this exhibition are the results of a creative process centered on the experience of being at the Saskatchewan River Delta. Underrecognized by many in Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan River Delta carries immeasurable life, history, and the essence of traditional ways of living.  

In a time when the planet is facing an environmental and social crisis, when ecosystems are threatened and in a fragile state, García-Luna works reminds us it is imperative to look and review our bond to nature, not only through information or in conceptual ways, but through involvement and experience of the living rural spaces and environments close to us. [2]

References:

[1]      Moore, Sandee. “Saskatchewan River Delta.” Galleries West, June 3, 2019. https://www.gallerieswest.ca/magazine/stories/saskatchewan-river-delta/.

[2]      “Gabriela Garcia-Luna: Edge.” Galleries West, April 10, 2019. https://www.gallerieswest.ca/events/gabriela-garcia-luna-almost-river/.

Additional information:

“About.” Gabriela Garcia-Luna. Accessed June 23, 2021. http://www.gabrielagarcialuna.com/bio-1-1.

“Edge.” Canadian Art, April 25, 2019. https://canadianart.ca/agenda/edge/.

Walters. “Quick Hits: Saskatchewan Delta.” Canadian Art Junkie, June 30, 2019. https://canadianartjunkie.com/2019/06/13/quick-hits-saskatchewan-delta/.

Activism, Art, Completed Projects, Conceptual, conservation, Exhibit, exhibition organization, Gallery, Landscape, Museum, Nature, Private, SASK, Saskatchewan, SK, Temporary