FABRICATED LANDSCAPES are a series of mixed media textile works partly in response to Barrie adjusting it's southern boundary to include 2,293 hectares of land from the Town of Innisfil, as well as my observation of undeveloped pockets of land nestled within my city limits that point to our rural beginnings.  Currently living two streets away from farmland, I find myself on the edge of suburban sprawl, something I have coined “RURBIA”.

In these works I visually investigate how our culture simultaneously mimics and destroys nature through its industrious design and development.  Juxtaposing structures and patterns of urban development against the organic boundaries of the watershed and landforms of the countryside, the work draws attention to the farmland needed to sustain us as well as the human footprint on the natural habitats often found nestled within.  The patchwork into the canvases is intended to communicate a hope for mending our landscapes, while the thick palette knife strokes of plastic paint beside the squares of recycled fabric, reveal the dense carbon footprint left behind by the highly consumerist machine of our society.  The final layer of block printing creates a nostalgia for the natural habitat and wildlife that once inhabited these spaces, which are now often thought of as pests.

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