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Donna Marie McLaughlin
the migration of birds from october mountain
June 19 to September 26, 2004
Donna Marie McLaughlin contemplates nature, the earth beneath our feet, cycles and
rhythms, light, colour and movement in this new series the migration of birds from
october mountain. The eighteen drawings, selected from over forty-five works
created by the Cranbrook artist, reflect her own wanderings, discoveries and isolation
in the landscape.
McLaughlin draws inspiration from her environment, from dialogue, and from
extensive reading, all of which are essential to her personal and creative process. She
looks to creative thinkers E.O. Wilson, Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme and their
notions of 'in space' and the cosmos, often reflecting on Wilson's ideas of the
biosphere as a thin diaphanous film that surrounds the earth, a container for all life
and cycles.
Of the series she writes:
In the migration of birds from october mountain ... I suppose the struggle is
with depicting not just formal elements but a sense of movement through
space and time ... and not a specific 'place' ... birds know no artificially
constructed boundaries like countries/states/provinces ...they are truly
'global' and migration is perhaps more symbolic here ... thus the name
'October Mountain' instead of something like Mt. Hector ... the world in flux
... with migrations too ... across borders ... time ... peoples ... and I have often
thought of the caribou ... the migrations to birthing grounds ... the need to
return ... I wonder if we retain an instinct to return to the familiar.
In the works, McLaughlin's exploration of simple marks, line, movement and beauty
all stripped bare, reveal stories that are synthesized in her choices of handmade
Japanese paper, ancient symbols of the cosmic tree, the journey and death/rebirth and
in her own poetic reflections and vision of our environment.
After growing up in Ontario and Quebec and graduating with a Bachelor of Science
degree from the University of Toronto, McLaughlin ventured west to the Columbia
Valley. There, she pursued her artistic practice with great intensity and dedication.
She has travelled, studied printmaking extensively, participated in artist residencies in
Banff, Toronto and Vancouver, and has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows.
Geraldine Parent
Guest Curator |
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