This whimsical project at MacLean Park before the Outdoor Movie Night on August 17 marked a turning point in EartHand’s AIC residency at Strathcona: Rebecca and Anna collaborating on a piece, the last one Rebecca will do for the residency before moving to a farm in the Fraser Valley.
Using graphite sticks and some of the homemade wax/tallow crayons Rebecca made for EartHand’s Soil to Sky project, Anna and Rebecca invited community members to stroll up and make rubbings of leaves and bits mostly collected from around MacLean Park (one very engaged person also went home and brought some things from their garden!). Most of the rubbings were done on a large sheet of cloth that will be transformed as it is included in more artwork to be done at events this fall. We also experimented with rubbings on silk organza and pieces of coarse linen — so beautiful, each with their own unique qualities.
When we were experimenting with different media for the rubbings in the weeks leading up to the event, Anna said this (and Rebecca thought it was brilliant):
“I like the graphite, it’s kind of ephemeral — like it could be there, and it could be gone — which is important when you’re talking about place and community.”
Oh, so true.
