Sculpture On View in Downtown Toronto

My sculpture for the 2020 Yogen Fruz Brain Project for Baycrest is now online and on view in Downtown Toronto! The original brain sculpture is currently on view in RBC WaterPark Place, 88 Queen’s Quay, Toronto, ON, M5J 0B8 through mid-September, 2020. The sculpture was originally supposed to shown in Nathan's Phillips Square, outside of Toronto City Hall during the summer months. Because of COVID-19 restrictions in Toronto, Canada, the Brain Project sculptures are being shown in different public locations around the city. Below you can read more about the inspiration behind my new sculpture for the Baycrest Brain Project. The artwork is available for purchase on the Baycrest Brain Project website. All sales proceeds from these sculptures go to the Baycrest Foundation and brain health research. You can also vote for my sculpture in the People's Choice Award (click here to vote).  I donated my time, effort and paid for my own art materials to make this sculpture because I wanted to support Baycrest and its brain research. 

Title of the Sculpture: What's Real vs. Remembered? 

Fragments of memory are reflected in cut up photographs and painted movements from Israel. The brain sculpture is covered in mixed media collage, which include: pieces of my original photographs take in Israel, painted scenes in acrylic, and various materials and objects. The broken pieces of collage symbolize the illusion of memory. What actually happened and what’s remembered is unclear because of the nebulous nature of memory.  Photographs appear to document events but the memories are questioned through the combined fragments of documented and imagined scenes. For my Brain Project sculpture, I incorporated my original photographs all taken in Tel Aviv in October 2019. I edited each photograph, then collaged them together digitally and manually. A hardcopy of the digital image was printed then further cut up with scissors and put back together. For my 2020 Brain Sculpture I used some photographs and some painted scenes in acrylic. The scenes are meant to be seamless so that the viewer cannot be able to tell which parts are painted and which are photographs. This blending further emphasizes the theme of real vs. remembered.  

Why I wanted to Make a Sculpture for the Baycrest Brain Project

I wanted to be a part of the Baycrest Brain Project to support a great institution that directly helps my family as well as my community. Prior to COVID-19 restrictions in Toronto, my grandmother attended Baycrest's senior programs. I'm very grateful for the activities and support that she receives from Baycrest. Sales of the sculptures raise crucial funds for Baycrest’s efforts to defeat dementia and improve the aging experience. Baycrest's Brain research is fascinating to me as an artist and important to our community and the world of scientific research. I'm truly honoured to be a participating artist in the 2020 Brain Project.

View my Brain Sculpture on the Baycrest Brain Project website (click here to view this original artwork).