Conservatory Files
Extensions of Death: March - April 2019

Conservatory Files is a record and collection of the sights and sounds of the century-old Conservatory and Palm House at the Assiniboine Park Conservancy before its permanent closure and demolition in April of 2018. The exhibition represents a culmination of storytelling, poetry, photography and painting that recount and record the magical experiences, beauty, life and history of this garden for posterity. The work explores the loss of the quietness of the Conservatory as a sanctuary of peace and meditation.

Extensions of Death, which began as a thesis project, explores the grotesque and beautiful qualities of death. [The] shapes, textures, and colours of decomposing animals have been altered to investigate the human attraction to and repulsion from death. The paintings include rich, colourful pigments and detailed fur markings to create abstract, unidentifiable forms that reference the animal body.