Artwork on interconnection and interrelation

The installation Charcoal was created for the participatory public art project exhibition A Journey Within- Defining Moments. The installation reflects on links, connections, and cause- and- effect. The artwork is a reminder and one example of all the things around us that we can't possibly foresee or comprehend.   

The drawing in the installation Charcoal is created from charcoal collected from our wood stove over the years prior to the participatory project. We have been compelled to save these charcoal pieces for no apparent reason other than that they remind us of the truth “No two fires burn the same”. They also remind us of a beautiful quote from Leonard Cohen: “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” When we collected these charcoal pieces, we didn’t know what we would use them for. Over the ten-month development phase of the participatory art project, we have reflected on inter-relations and inter-connections in both the tangible and intangible aspects of life. It became clear that the charcoal we have saved over the years is a perfect medium to portray that reflection. From a piece of firewood to a drawing hung on a gallery wall, the installation “Charcoal” intends to use itself to illustrate that things in the world are interrelated and interconnected, as are moments in life. Nothing stands alone.

Size: 70" W x 81" H x 24"D

Materials: charcoal drawing on paper, charcoal, cedar and hardware