Guardian of Niagara, 2007, 2009 and 2018

The Guardian of Niagara: The Great Lakes (2007)
The Guardian of Niagara: The Soft Fruit Industry (2009)
The Guardian of Niagara: The Creative Economy (2018)

3 Chromira prints
24” x 30”
Edition of 2

The Guardian of Niagara plays on fantasy and comic strip heroines but unlike the nubile female bodies of those genres, she is a red-robed, white-haired crone with staff forged from the waters of Niagara Falls, commenting on the global and local issues of environment, food security and the economy.

Her diminishing size throughout the triptyck is cause for concern. She ponders the ills that plague the Great Lakes and rouses Niagarans to save the day, recalling the famous feminist slogan with her reply to the question, “Can we fix this in time? We can do it!” She returns to comment that soft fruit agriculture, which once defined Niagara, is at serious risk and is less optimistic, asking, “Can we save this land in time?”. For her final return, she asks if the Creative Economy model of economic development is all it cracked up to be and wonders, “Can we salvage this in time?”

The Guardian of Niagara: Great Lakes: Watermarks,  St. Catharines City Hall, 2007; Artists’ Survey: The Greenbelt, Gallery 1313 (Toronto), Royal Ontario Museum, Cultural Expressions Gallery (Ajax), Gallery OneFortyFive (St. Catharines)
The Guardian of Niagara: Soft Fruit: Hamilton Artists’ Inc., 2009; Artists’ Survey: The Greenbelt, Gallery 1313, Royal Ontario Museum, Cultural Expressions Gallery (Ajax), Gallery OneFortyFive (St. Catharines), 2010

The Guardian of Niagara: Great Lakes: thanks to Brian Yungblut Photography, Nell Chitty and Matt Harley
The Guardian of Niagara: The Soft Fruit Industry: thanks to Brian Yungblut Photography
The Guardian of Niagara: The Creative Economy: thanks to Brian Yungblut Photography and Julia Haimburger