Shorelines: Scars

Scars follows those affected by  the dramatic flooding that took place in New Brunswick in 2018 and 2019—the individuals, families, and entities standing resilient as they don high cut rubber boots and fishing waders, load everything into a boat, and set off across a once dry land. 

The prints utilize imagery from flood coverage shot by CBC, CTV, Global, and other news sources is struck with harsh gashes of red.  The intentionally discordant mono-printed marks  refer to the shade of red often mobilized by government sources and media outlets to indicate potential hazard areas during New Brunswick’s spring floods. Records of such swamping date back as far back as 1696 when a late spring freshet hampered a small French settlement at Jemseg. Seasonal flooding along the Saint John River or Wolastoq—as it was originally designated by the Wolastoqiyik Peoples—, have likely occurred for a time incalculable. The same can be said for the Kennebecasis, Miramichi, and Restigouche rivers, but never have  these watersheds consecutively slogged communities with the kind of  rapid flooding endured in recent years as a result of climate change. Fredericton and her neighbors have seen their fair share of overflows, but the years of 2018 and 2019 out-scaled even the highest predictions. Rothesay’s pumping and sewage stations were swallowed by the Kennebecasis while Hampton saw many homes and cottages dismantled into heaps of sodden wood— structures that had narrowly survived the temperamental floods of 2008. Even the meager Trout Creek of Sussex swelled beyond belief in 2019, spurring evacuations. All of this amounts to a staggering economic toll, roughly $80 million in damages in 2018 alone, a price that  an already scant  province cannot expect to bare—certainly not year after year. And the human impact is equally significant. Places like Maugerville are shrinking and property developments in Southern New Brunswick have slowed dramatically while many residents take  to higher ground leaving behind a myriad of broken real-estate, unlikely to be reclaimed. It is clear that the  turbulent swelling of these waterways will continue to be an annual hardship, destined only to grow in scale, until adequate action is taken toward their protection and care

Monotype(s)

Oil Monotype and Acetone Monoprint on Paper, 9” x 14” (23cm x 35cm).

2020.