Random Coordinates, 1993

Reclaimed bed sheets from the men’s homeless shelter are torn into square swatches and tied back together with negative spaces. There are four hanging panels. One side forms a triangle shawl-like shape which is dyed with coffee and pulled taut with fishing weights. This throws a shadow onto the next panel which is a white unaltered bedsheet. Another panel consists of a hanging honeybee tray complete with wax honeycombs made by bees. A final panel is tied back together into a rectangle with negative spaces and is soaked in linseed oil. This renders it vulnerable to spontaneous combustion. Over time it also becomes bright yellow and somewhat rigid. The linseed-soaked cloth swatches are dangerous as they are highly flammable. Linseed was chosen for is volatility and its ability to accelerate the decay of the cloth—reflecting the brief and fraught existence of humanity. The work is a prayer for precarious members of Indigenous communities living in shelters and on the streets. The fancy shawl dance, performed by women, signals hope, transformation, rebirth, and resilience.

Exhibited at the Windsor Biannual, Art Gallery of Windsor, 1993.