second project, For Susan /
_ Seasons After was created during
the year following his death in 1977.
During the eighties Marian exhibit-
ed the four part installation Transfigured Wood
in New York, Rome, Italy, and at the Surrey Art
Gallery. This installation, “dealt with landscape
and memory. . . actual history and imagined history
through dreams and all the ways that landscape is mediat-
ed through our imagination." Part one, View From the
Porch, consisted of three elements depicting the death of
a tree, the tearing down of some houses in Kitsilano, and
the beginnings of new construction. “Here | was struck
by how surrounded we are in this particular locale with
trees and lumber. . . and what physical relationship we
have with it. . . | was thinking it had to be an emotional
relationship as well." Part two, Local History: Dream and
Contact, consisted of several large prints relating to
dreams and the act of looking at a landscape from various
viewpoints. Part three, Family Tree, which can be seen as
a precursor for Marian's current work, is constructed from
three panels with nine images in total. “In this piece | was
considering how the landscape is perceived and the history
of our perception of the landscape." -On the left is a
reprinted photograph of her father, in the centre her fami-
ly, and on the right her mother. Part four, the book work
- Two Places at Once, examines the landscape once again,
_ "considering how we take the images of the landscape
and how they are mediated through dreams, through
‘actual experience, through remembered experience,
~ through your fantasies, your fiction." The book was con-
‘ «structed from large photographs of the Lower Mainland
and the Fraser Valley where she was born. The images
_ were cut in half and accordion folded into book form.
Each of the four elements of this installation combine
aspects of the landscape and history (natural, local, and
personal) to illustrate the meaning and significance of
landscape unique to the artist.
For the current exhibition Marian described “a
real desire . . . to explore some of the origins of sensibility.
. . or sensibilities that are present in Canada .. . it's not
that long ago that our ancestors were elsewhere, really not
that long ago in terms of human history." She wanted to
experience first hand the other geographies that are linked
to her family heritage. She brought four cameras with her
during her travels: “I took my large format black and
white and my 35mm black and white and two small
35mms for color slides and negatives because | wanted to
cover all the bases. You always need to have slides for

MARIANPENNERBANCRO

ee

shows and your color

prints for your snaps. . . when | came

back from both Scotland and Ukraine, | dis-

covered that what | really, out of all the stuff I'd

shot, what | really liked was what | shot with my small
Olympus, the color negatives.”

These rich color prints, divided by room and by
country, share a particular aesthetic quality resulting from
the intuitive photographic process of responding to various
landscapes loaded with meaning for the operator of the
camera. Some are sharp and focused while others are
blurred and speak more about movement. “The effect. was
almost accidental. . .taken from the train, the train was
moving. | didn't have a chance to focus, or | focused on
the glass instead of what was beyond the glass." An
obvious difference between the two rooms reflects the dif-
ference in travel between the two countries. The images
of Scotland are more fluent and unified, where the images

_ of Ukraine seem more hectic but charged with motion and

emotional involvement.

What made this show resonate for me was my
interview with Marian and the artist's talk at Presentation
House when she shared her personal experiences and the
details of developing a project such as this. As.in a family
album, each photograph retains individual meaning and
importance but also takes on additional levels of signifi-
cance when present with other images. During my inter-
view with Marian | experienced her version of the story
and her passion for this project on a personal level. |
enjoy the various levels of accessibility in this work and
Marian's willingness to share aspects of her own history
that could possibly have been of interest only to family
members but have somehow taken on a more universal
meaning. We all have our own histories, and our own
interpretations of how these histories have shaped us as
individuals today. There is value in experiencing another's
version of the story, someone else's family album.

photo by Marc Hébert

second project, For Susan /
Seasons After was created during
the year following his death in 1977.

During the eighties Marian exhibit-
ed the four part installation Transfigured Wood
in New York, Rome, Italy, and at the Surrey Art
Gallery. This installation, “dealt with landscape
and memory. . . actual history and imagined history
through dreams and all the ways that landscape is mediat-
ed through our imagination.” Part one, View From the
Porch, consisted of three elements depicting the death of
a tree, the tearing down of some houses in Kitsilano, and
the beginnings of new construction. “Here I was struck
by how surrounded we are in this particular locale with
trees and lumber. . . and what physical relationship we
have with it. .| was thinking it had to be an emotional
relationship as well." Part two, Local History: Dream and
Contact, consisted of several large prints relating to
dreams and the act of looking at a landscape from various
viewpoints. Part three, Family Tree, which can be seen as
4 precursor for Marian's current work, is constructed from
three panels with nine images in total. “In this piece | was
considering how the landscape is perceived and the history
of our perception of the landscape.” On the left is a
reprinted photograph of her father, in the centre her fami-
ly, and on the right her mother. Part four, the book work
Two Places at Once, examines the landscape once again,
“considering how we take the images of the landscape
and how they are mediated through dreams, through
actual experience, through remembered experience,
through your fantasies, your fiction.” The book was con-
structed from large photographs of the Lower Mainland
and the Fraser Valley where she was born. The images
‘were cut in half and accordion folded into book form
Each of the four elements of this installation combine
aspects of the landscape and history (natural, local, and
personal) to illustrate the meaning and significance of
landscape unique to the artist.

For the current exhibition Marian described
real desire .. . to explore some of the origins of sensibility.
- . or sensibilities that are present in Canada ... it’s not
that long ago that our ancestors were elsewhere, really not
that long ago in terms of human history.” She wanted to
experience first hand the other geographies that are linked
to her family heritage. She brought four cameras with her
during her travels: “I took my large format black and
white and my 35mm black and white and two small
35mms for color slides and negatives because | wanted to
cover all the bases. You always need to have slides for

Tg ee et

shows and your color

prints for your snaps. .. when | came

back from both Scotland and Ukraine, | dis-

covered that what I really, out of all the stuff I'd

shot, what | really iked was what | shot with my small
‘Olympus, the color negatives.

‘These rich color prints, divided by room and by
country, share a particular aesthetic quality resulting from
the intuitive photographic process of responding to various
landscapes loaded with meaning for the operator of the
camera. Some are sharp and focused while others are
blurred and speak more about movement. “The effect was
almost accidental. . taken from the train, the train was
moving. | didn’t have a chance to focus, or | focused on
the glass instead of what was beyond the glass.” An
obvious difference between the two rooms reflects the dif-
ference in travel between the two countries. The images
of Scotland are more fluent and unified, where the images
of Ukraine seem more hectic but charged with motion and
emotional involvement.

What made this show resonate for me was my
interview with Marian and the artist's talk at Presentation
House when she shared her personal experiences and the
details of developing a project such as this. As in a family
album, each photograph retains individual meaning and
importance but also takes on additional levels of signifi-
cance when present with other images. During my inter-
view with Marian | experienced her version of the story
and her passion for this project on a personal level. |
enjoy the various levels of accessibility in this work and
‘Marian’s willingness to share aspects of her own history
that could possibly have been of interest only to family
members but have somehow taken on a more universal
meaning. We all have our own histories, and our own
interpretations of how these histories have shaped us as
individuals today. There is value in experiencing another's
version of the story, someone else's family album.

MARIANPENNERBANCROFT