The Drake Hotel Sky Yard Mural
1150 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 2014.
Curatorial Programming by Mia Nielsen and Rea McNamara.
Mural title: “Weathered Or Not?”
This piece was created during a mix of weather patterns- bright hot sunshine, cool clouds, wind and heavy rain. The large mound of lines form the head of a man wearing a baseball cap. The silver chimney is like the brim of the cap. He is lying down, looking up to the sky above. Is he inhaling or exhaling the clouds? Does the environment affect his outer layer? Exhaling from the inside out, could this be about self-infliction? His complexion is made up of maze patterns- straight lines like a symbol for order. Such lines transform like the wrinkles of age, forming lines that look like loose organic brain matter. Is there knowledge to be seen on the outside? Is his skin weathered by the clouds that rain upon him? Or does the cloud shade protect him from the sun? Maybe the clouds block the sun’s warmth. Does rain quench his thirst, or does rain drown his crops? Is he weathered? Is his chin up? Maybe his chin has a mind of it’s own. His subtle smile, his tear of joy is hidden like a drop in an ocean, but if one looks close enough, the answers are in there.
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