Nature | Innate Motivator

This sculpture exhibition reflects our undeniable connection with nature. Featuring four works from our permanent collection by four artists: Stephen Hogbin, Joyce Falconer, Ron Eccles, and Thomas T. Bowie who found a common inspiration in nature, its shapes, textures, visual, and hidden messages.

Whether Canadian-born or established, the Canadian scenery created an impact on these artists. Observation and imitation of the environment played a key role in molding their visions. The trees and the lakes found a way into their sculptural motifs, and their works depict the calmness and reassurance that staring into the big outdoors brings.

Sturdy figures or intricate small objects that add up to the bigger picture all find a way of reflecting that the passing of time is inevitable, but it can be gracious when used intentionally. Whether it’s Ron Eccles’s collection of rocks expanding over 10 years or Joyce’s bird sitting outside her house “until the time was right” for it to become one with the rest of the sculpture, their pieces embody the principle that the only constant is change. There is an unspoken liberation in the creative process of allowing the natural course to take on the art and letting it be what it needs to be.

These pieces exemplify the journey of finding beauty in the ordinary and remind us of the values that nature holds: patience, openness, change, and belonging. The artists skillfully demonstrate their ability to make the ordinary extraordinary by placing quotidian objects and materials in a composition and aesthetic worthy of a piece of art, not by denying their commonality but rather by enhancing their natural beauty.

The unorthodox acquisition, assembly, and display of materials allude to the evident connection between the artists and nature. Composed of curved lines, circles, soft edges, welcoming figures, and warm materials and colours, these pieces invite us to connect with nature too, or, as Hogbin would call it, “the life force.”.