Public Art Registry
Mother and Child
Photo: Scott Livingstone
Mother and Child by Shannon Oksanen - photo by Scott Livingstone
Mother and Child by Shannon Oksanen - photo by Scott Livingstone
Mother and Child by Shannon Oksanen - photo by Scott Livingstone
Mother and Child by Shannon Oksanen - photo by Scott Livingstone
Mother and Child by Shannon Oksanen - photo by Scott Livingstone
8188 Fraser Street
Fraser Commons
Sited on the southwest corner of the open public green space between Fraser Street and Chester Street
Private development
2021
Bronze
Sculpture
In place
Privately owned - Strata
City of Vancouver Private Development Program
Description of work

Mother and Child was commissioned by Serracan Properties Ltd as part of their participation in the City of Vancouver's Public Art Program for Private Development.  

 

Artist statement

My vision for Fraser Commons was a pair of bronze sculptures. Mother and Child focuses on the idea of the family and is sited at the heart of the new development in the public park adjacent to the new daycare centre. This pair of sculptures hopes to foster through its biomorphic shapes, tactile material and series of openings, social and physical activity by encouraging children, teens and adults to interact with the work. The proposed work echoes the Fraser Commons’ ambition to create a family friendly and calm inviting space from which to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Often regarded as the father of modern British sculpture, Henry Moore and his longtime friend, colleague and fellow sculptor Barbara Hepworth have been, time and again, a source of inspiration for my artistic work. In this instance, Mother and Child draws upon the artists’ use of abstraction of human and natural forms along with the recurring motif of the family. Like the work of Moore and Hepworth, the sculptures will be situated within the green space of the park and will act as a frame for the landscape.

Mother and Child is equally influenced by the post war ‘play sculptures’ of British sculptor John Bridgeman (1916 – 2004) and Danish architect and sculptor Egon Möller-Nielsen (1915 – 1959). Bridgeman and Möller-Nielsen’s play-sculpture hybrids are models for the work’s sense of playfulness and will help to animate the space and humanize the architectural design of the new Fraser Commons.

The choice of traditional cast bronze is a nod to the works of these modernist masters, but is also motivated by my desire to encourage physical interaction, touching and movement through the works on the part of the viewer whose contact contributes to its changing patina. The sculpture’s blue finish is informed by my childhood memories of the old Blue Boy Motel Hotel formerly located on the site. The colour provides something of an historical trace of the distinctive ‘Wosk’ blue tiles which were a part of the Vancouver landscape for so long. The blue colour will also act as a beautiful counterpoint to the copper tones that are seen throughout Fraser Commons.

Mother and Child will invite interaction at the ground level of the community but will also have visual appeal when viewed from above. In its simplicity, the work will provide a focal point for the busy new hub of the Sunset community.

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