Prismacolor on Wood, 12.5” x 16” x .75”

Broken Series - 2008

From my description at its show at the Pink Cow in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan:

Recently, I have been fascinated by things that I perceive as “broken.”  I think this may have started with a car accident I was in right before I moved to Japan.  The impact left my right collarbone fractured in three places.  The x-rays of my bones before and after my shoulder repair surgery captivated me.  Our bodies are so amazing.  The technological ability to see inside someone is astonishing and oddly beautiful.

When I was visiting Newfoundland and Labrador during the summer of 2007, I was equally intrigued by the broken economy there.  Literal fragments of it were visible all over the countryside, most especially on the shore.  The Cod Moratorium has taken its toll on the local fishermen and the seafood industry.  Entire towns have ceased to exist.  Many of the people in that region have moved into larger cities within Canada to make ends meet; and few return.

One of these towns, Battle Harbour, Labrador, is trying to combat this decline by turning their little island into a National Trust.  They give tours and are slowly fixing the houses up so they can be used as rental homes.  It was a beautiful, lonely, and extreme place.  I didn’t want to leave.  The stories the former locals told of the days when the salt cod was king were spellbinding and almost unbelievable.  It sounded like something from the 19th century, not from the 1970s!  But this regions is isolated, and old.  Their traditions are disappearing along with the cod.

The plane wreck has been there for years - a reminder of the harsh reality of their landscape, economy, and isolation.  It’s a short walk from the main part of town, as is everything on the tiny island.