selected works from 1985-2009
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Sometimes I like a happy ending; sometimes I like a sad ending (2009) random objects random thoughts (2009) Signs of Life: an intimate portrait of someone I don't know (2008) Le stade du Miroir (2003) you are on my mind (2003) The Trouble with Translation (2003) Family Album (2002) between two points (2001) Doing Time (2000) Staging Memory (2000) I should have, I could have, I would have... ...if only (1998) I am ... (1998) The Veiled Room (1998) Projections for the Unseeing (1997) A Portable Viewing Station for Anxious Travelers (1994) In Memoriam Forgetting and Remembering Fragments of History (1993) Measure of the Man (1992) Fragments for a Story (1991) Search for Definition (1991) Isn't your/my mother beautiful? (1990) Neon for j.e. atkinson (1990) My lips are sealed (1989) Contradictions and Possibilities (1988) In the room (1987) Hide and Seek (1985) Back to Back (1985) |
I should have, I could have, I would have... ...if only, 1998
Materials: Glass, flashing neon Dimensions: measurements variable, 21"x18"x6" approximately Exhibitions: Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto | Curator: Linda Book Alphabets group exhibition, Stewart Hall, Montreal | Curator: Joyce Millar Photo credit: Thomas Blanchard I should have, I could have, I would have... ...if only is a flashing, handwritten series of phrases translated into neon and wall mounted. The phrases express longing and regret. I should have, I could have, I would have are positioned on the wall, one below another, recalling lines like 'I must not...' repeated and handwritten on a classroom blackboard. The three phrases flash sequentially referencing commercial signage with its insistent messaging. The 'if only' phrase does not flash and functions as a kind of leitmotif or musical chorus. The viewer reads the phrases, becomes the 'I' and is offered the possibility of completing the phrases. The act of reading implicates the viewer in the situation of longing and regret thereby provoking associations to their individual experiences. These phrases are very familiar to us as is the experience of regret. The words reference regret and longing for unfulfilled private desires as well as a response to social expectations. By voicing these words, the viewer is situated in both a social and private context. |