A new installation at the Art Gallery of Guelph is part of a project that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation process for survivors of Indian residential schools.
It’s called Circle Mound.
Indeed, that’s what Don Russell’s new installation at the Art Gallery of Guelph’s (AGG) sculpture park looks like: a raised bank of sod surrounding what resembles a red pond.
Approach the grass berm and you see that the “water” is a smooth surface made of clay, ringed by a necklace of limestone blocks.
Just as water can hide mysteries, that clay surface invites viewers to look in for deeper references.
Dawn Owen, Art Gallery of Guelph curator, is pictured with Circle Mound, a new installation by artist Don Russel. Photo credit: GuelphToday
Created this summer, Circle Mound is part of a wider art initiative called the Mush Hole Project, set to unfold in mid-September.
That project was sparked by last year’s final report of the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Canada’s residential school system.
The Mush Hole project connects the AGG with partners in southern Ontario, including the University of Waterloo and the Woodland Cultural Centre (WWC) in Brantford. [...]