Fragile Habitats Declining Ecosystems

By Julie Aubin and Darlene Benner
Showing from 29 October - 2 December

Opening Reception Sunday 29 October at 3pm

In an astonishing combination of science and fine art, Niagara artists Julie Aubin and Darlene Benner bring FLORA: Fragile Habitats, Endangered Ecosystems to NAC. This breathtaking installation, the product of over five years labour, consists of fifty ceramic sculptures of endangered and extinct plants that are native to Canada.

Each twenty to fifty centimeter (eight to sixteen inch) plant has been sculpturally interpreted in hand built or wheel thrown porcelain and presented on a stoneware pedestal almost one and a half metres high (over four feet). All of the sculptures were built of clay using a variety of techniques to create their surfaces including primitive firing methods, glazes and non-silver photographic printing. Each marker carries the date the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) designated the plant endangered.

The exhibition is made possible through the support of the Audrey Shimizu Memorial Fund and the Niagara Community Foundation. This fund was established in 2005 in memory of NAC member, environmentalist and artist Audrey Shimizu to support the payment of exhibition fees to women artists exhibiting at NAC.