SUMAS LAKE: 22 MILES OF MEMORIES  

With fabric, welded wire and images transferred on acetate I create light sculptures, often kinetic, that are shown in a natural environment and in galleries.

My recent work is an expression of my interest in environmental issues. For example my recent sculptural installation “Valley Rain” (Artropolis 2001) was a piece made of umbrellas and maps mounted on a wall that dealt with the issue of acid rain. Another recent installation titled “1, 2, tree, 4, 5” (Downstairs Gallery, Chilliwack, 2001) was a sculptural installation consisting of five welded wire, fabric and glass torsos where I used mirror images of trees on black and white acetate. These images were sewn on the fabric. With these five red and white lanterns, I looked at the connection between the organic structure of the tree and the human body’s respiratory and vascular system.

I have in the last three years, successfully completed sculptural installation projects that have an indoor/outdoor vocation. “The Wind Project” (Richmond Art Gallery, Spring 2001) was shown previously in two provincial parks and on private land in the Fraser Valley in the Spring and late Summer 2000. This installation of eight wind lanterns was a genealogy project where I looked at four generations of women in my family. Made of welded wire, fabric and bicycle parts these eight spinning lanterns formed a circle symbolizing the family, each one of them associated with a cardinal paint related to their place of birth. Here I use the wind as a metaphor for motivation, a physical movement as a symbol for an internal one.

In my next sculptural installation project “Sumas Lake: 22 Miles of Memories”, I want to continue to work on an environmental issue by putting it in a historical context. This particular sculptural installation consists of 22 amphibian lanterns that represent the 22 square miles of Sumas Lake, one of BC’s largest tidal lake and wetland environment. Through, a major diking project Sumas Lake was dried up in the early 1900’s to expand agriculture in the area. The land is now farmed but also used for residential development, malls and the TransCanada Highway. Before its disappearance Sumas Lake was one of Western Canada’s major migratory bird site, home of the endangered sturgeon, etc… This essential part of the ecosystem of the Fraser Valley was traditional Sto: Lo first nation’s land and a big part of their way of life for centuries.

Each one of the 22 lanterns is made of two white umbrellas (with their handles cut off) that are attached together with small hooks to form spheres. They are lit from the inside with candles when the installation is set up on a lake. I will be using photocopies of archival black and white photographs depicting life on the lake. These images will be sewn on the fabric. I will continue the graphic work on the umbrellas with black ink drawings and calligraphy. The umbrella installation is to be shown at least four times. First the lanterns will be shown floating on lakes in the Upper Fraser Valley at Cultus Lake and Manning Park through an existing series of annual public art events in the provincial parks in August. The installation will also be shown on private land in Greendale (Chilliwack) on the old lake bed. Finally, “Sumas Lake: 22 Miles of Memories” will be shown in a gallery of the Fraser Valley within a year of its initial production. There will be a modification of the lighting system for the indoor installation. A different treatment of the floor will also be done for the gallery context.

This amphibian lantern installation is in the tradition of the Japanese funerary lanterns. Even the choice of white, representing death in Asian culture is wanted. Every year victims of Hiroshima are remembered with thousands of floating lanterns. I use lanterns as a memorial for a part of the environment and history that cannot be seen anymore.

This project is essential to the progression of my art practice because it allows me to produce work that connects me to my physical environment and my community. By creating a thought provoking piece of art on issues of wetland protection and historical education I am pursuing my commitment to expand the accessibility of my art through traditional and non traditional art venues. I want to deal with large environmental issues in my work by looking at local issues very well. The story of Sumas Lake repeats itself through time and from country to country. Choosing to make an artistic statement about it is a small but important gesture for me as an artist.

            Sylvie Roussel-Janssens

            October 2001