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Toronto Artist. Writer. Designer.
The idea for this project first evolved out of a poem I wrote for the hunter and sculptor, Billy Gauthier, a poem that ends with my saying I’d like to turn into a cormorant when I die. Further research and observation of the cormorants in Toronto lead me to the visual art and activism of Cole Swanson. His 2020 exhibit, Devil’s Colony, examines the material connections between humans and cormorants as demonstrated by the birds’ collection of non-biodegradable waste materials. Swanson's work takes us within the heart of the colony, asking us to bear witness to the complex lives of this wrongfully maligned species.
Etobicoke-based photographer and film maker Paul David Esposti photographed the cormorants in flight; I used these photos to draw stills with ink and pencil on vellum (about 90 drawings). Paul photographed each drawing, created the sound design and edited the film.
I like thinking about how much might be resolved in our world if we could learn to care for the space around a soaring bird.