When Coast Reporter talked to artist Gordon Halloran last week, he was still unsure whether to use hip waders or a small inflatable to work on his current floating art project, Lotus in Motion, a show that opens to the public at VanDusen Botanical Gardens today, July 29.
During the past few months at his Roberts Creek studio, Halloran has created numerous lotus or lily pads, each one unique, painted on water-colour paper and coated with beeswax. A number of them have been tested by floating them on the surface of his front yard pond the past six weeks. Now they will be plucked from the pond, transported to Vancouver's large botanical garden and placed on the three small lakes for the public to enjoy.
The images are created from natural forms and structures - the split leaf shape of a lily pad or, in some cases, reminiscent of an insect's winged shell.
"The natural pond growth at the VanDusen lakes has left certain areas open, so the composition or placement of the lotus leaves has already been suggested," Halloran said.
But there's room to improvise, as there is an opportunity to change the positioning of the artwork/leaves to give varying effects. The flexibility is better in this project than in his previous major accomplishments that involved ice as a medium. Halloran and a team of artists have produced prominent art installations at two Olympic Winter Games, and he has also wowed the citizens of Chicago and Niagara with his ice sculptures.
The lotus project is less demanding physically. Prior to the ice art installations, Halloran and his crew were forced to remain many hours working in sub-zero conditions preparing the colourful frozen works. Installing his paintings on a lake should be a lot less difficult, even if he has to wade or paddle into the water on an inflatable.
Nonetheless, he will be accompanied by two of his team who have been involved in all his projects so far, his son Jaz Halloran and artist Erik Olson. Also helping will be an old friend, Eliya Waxman, who assisted on one of Halloran's very first Vancouver ice projects in the 1990s at the West End community centre rink.
The floating lotus paintings evoke a cultural heritage that is western and a spiritual heritage that is eastern. Halloran took inspiration from many places: a meditative art book entitled Smile of the Buddha, Monet's water lilies, calving icebergs and the textures of landscape flora.
The goal of public art is to make it accessible, Halloran explains. It's all about contemporary art within a natural setting that creates a link between aesthetic enjoyment and conceptual understanding. Not all public art is popular. Viewers can't always agree on what's good or what's not, and they don't enjoy having their tax dollars used to support something they don't like. Consequently, public art projects are often struggling for funds. Halloran and his partner Caitlin Hicks have been busy holding fundraising events and garnering goodwill from local sponsors to raise money.
One fundraiser is the sale of original lotus designs on art cards, suitable for framing and printed on archival paper, not unlike a small giclee print. Another fundraiser is to sponsor a floating painting for a day, a week, a month or the entire duration of the installation. Go to the blog site www.lotusandyou.blogspot.com for more on the subject of support from the community. More information about the project can be found at www.lotusinmotionproject.blogspot.com.
The show will run at VanDusen until Sept. 30.
