Additional Images

Provenance:

Private collection, Montreal, QC

Note:

Fafard’s ceramic lampscapes were made in the early 1980s, and Friendly Intruder, which is populated with beavers and a moose, is an excellent example from this significant body of work. When asked in 1987 about his lampscapes, Fafard said, “There are very few landscapes done in sculpture that can be called sculpture…I wanted to make an object with very little surface but with a great illusion of depth in terms of space.” There is an in/out tension with these lamps. When turned off, you are drawn into the dark thicket, visually grasping for a narrative populated with Canadian beasts. Thanks to Fafard’s masterful use of a lustred background, when the bulb is switched on, a warm light unexpectedly emanates out into the domestic space, expanding the presence of the sculpture beyond its form. Attesting to the importance of the lampscapes, several are found in private collections around the world and one, Moose in Lampscape, 1983, is in the collection of the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery.

We invite you to read more about this work on our blog.

Julia Krueger maintains an active writing, curatorial and research practice grounded in material culture and craft theory. She is currently the Permanent Collection Registrar with SK Arts. Krueger has taught art history courses at the University of Western Ontario, Luther College, University of Regina and Alberta College of Art + Design.