The group of seven billion: This art was made by bacteria from the Group of Seven’s paint palettes<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/h1>\n
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<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> The group of seven billion: This art was made by bacteria from the Group of Seven’s paint palettes<\/span><\/h1>\nPublication:\u00a0CBC Arts<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nPublished: September 20, 2021<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nAuthor:\u00a0Chris Hampton<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\nJon Sasaki swabbed the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels and photographed the ‘landscapes’<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27780%27%20height%3D%27466%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20780%20466%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27780%27%20height%3D%27466%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\")
Detail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by A.Y. Jackson, 2020. Archival print 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSquint and you’ll see the Canadian Shield dipping its grey granite fingers into the water. The glassy pool is so still that, reflected in its surface, you can find the trees that climb the hills above. Most have already lost their leaves. It must be the last days of autumn.<\/p>\n
The photograph is indeed a landscape, though it’s a microscopic one. Its scene appears just like one from the Group of Seven, famed chroniclers of Canadian wilderness. And in many ways, it is a scene made by their hands.<\/p>\n
100 years after the Group of Seven’s inaugural 1920 exhibition, Toronto-based artist Jon Sasaki has brought to life a new series of works \u00ab\u00a0from\u00a0\u00bb the Group and its forebear Tom Thomson. He’s done so by swabbing the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels, then photographing the surprising bacterial cultures that have sprung up.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27780%27%20height%3D%27780%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20780%20780%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27780%27%20height%3D%27780%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\")
Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Arthur Lismer, 2020. Archival print. 91.44 x 91.44 cm. (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe playful conceptualist, who began his career as a landscape painter, has admired the Group’s work since early childhood. \u00ab\u00a0In no small way, these paintings helped convince me I wanted to become an artist,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. He’s titled the suite of eight photographs hanging now at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection \u00ab\u00a0Homage.\u00a0\u00bb The project transcends simple tribute, however, as the artist rekindles the spirit of the Group to capture nature’s marvels from a more modern vantage.<\/p>\n
Sasaki’s work began in the McMichael vault, where he and museum conservator Alison Douglas uncrated the artists’ tools. There were painting palettes from Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Thomson; J.E.H MacDonald’s painting box; Lawren Harris’s paint box and palettes; an easel used by Frank Johnston. In the church of Canadian art, these objects are relics, something like saints’ bones, but what struck the artist most was how ordinary and modest they appeared. The only sign of their magic, he says, was in their patina \u2014 the evidence of the artist’s hard work.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I think because I’ve always thought of the Group of Seven as ‘Canadian art royalty,’ I was picturing very regal tools … gold-plated palettes or something like that,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0When I first saw these objects, I was quite taken aback by how humble some of them were \u2014 homemade and well-worn from use. It was a reminder that many of these artists struggled to make ends meet throughout their lives, and it made them seem more human and relatable.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Franklin Carmichael, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith sterile cotton swabs, Sasaki traced the objects one by one, \u00ab\u00a0paying special attention,\u00a0\u00bb he says, \u00ab\u00a0to areas that would have been handled by their original owners \u2014 the finger holes in the palettes, the handles of the painting boxes.\u00a0\u00bb He then transferred any microbes the swabs may have captured into petri dishes prepared with nutrient agar, meant to foster growth. \u00ab\u00a0There are documented examples of microbes lying dormant for thousands of years to be revived into healthy colonies.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Speckles of yeast and various bacteria appeared after just a day. Then the dots \u00ab\u00a0grew into complicated, variegated shapes,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. After four or five days total, the dishes were ready to begin photographing. He selected the examples most reminiscent of landscapes and looked for attributes within the petri dishes that recalled the artist’s work. The Lismer, for example, is dappled with rose-coloured pebbles and boughs of evergreen; the Harris seems to show a winter scene, just after the first big snowfall has quieted Algoma’s colours.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0If the Group of Seven’s project was to chart a connection between nature and identity,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says, \u00ab\u00a0I think this relationship also resides on the micro level.\u00a0\u00bb The many organisms of our body’s microbiome assist with digestion, bolster our immune system and likely influence mood, behaviour, and even decision-making, the artist explains. \u00ab\u00a0They, to a large degree, help make us who we are.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Jon Sasaki: Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Lawren S. Harris, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhere the Group looked to the vastness of nature to say something about our character, Sasaki peeks into the infinitesimal and finds emotions just as big. \u00ab\u00a0For me, the microbial world is every bit as awe-inspiring as a majestic wilderness landscape,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0It’s equally full of mystery and wonder, terror, malice and benevolence.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It is not meant as barb or slight, then, when Sasaki likens the Group’s iconic vision to something bacterial. \u00ab\u00a0Homage\u00a0\u00bb recognizes the tremendous impact of the Algonquin School, the way those painters encultured our national image, as well as their lasting influence even a century on. It celebrates them. Of course, it also suggests something bigger: that cultures \u2014 whether inside the petri dish or outside of it \u2014 do grow and evolve.<\/p>\n
Jon Sasaki: Homage is on view at the\u00a0McMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/a>\u00a0through September 26.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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The group of seven billion: This art was made by bacteria from the Group of Seven’s paint palettes<\/span><\/h1>\nPublication:\u00a0CBC Arts<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nPublished: September 20, 2021<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nAuthor:\u00a0Chris Hampton<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\nJon Sasaki swabbed the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels and photographed the ‘landscapes’<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by A.Y. Jackson, 2020. Archival print 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSquint and you’ll see the Canadian Shield dipping its grey granite fingers into the water. The glassy pool is so still that, reflected in its surface, you can find the trees that climb the hills above. Most have already lost their leaves. It must be the last days of autumn.<\/p>\n
The photograph is indeed a landscape, though it’s a microscopic one. Its scene appears just like one from the Group of Seven, famed chroniclers of Canadian wilderness. And in many ways, it is a scene made by their hands.<\/p>\n
100 years after the Group of Seven’s inaugural 1920 exhibition, Toronto-based artist Jon Sasaki has brought to life a new series of works \u00ab\u00a0from\u00a0\u00bb the Group and its forebear Tom Thomson. He’s done so by swabbing the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels, then photographing the surprising bacterial cultures that have sprung up.<\/p>\nMicrobes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Arthur Lismer, 2020. Archival print. 91.44 x 91.44 cm. (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe playful conceptualist, who began his career as a landscape painter, has admired the Group’s work since early childhood. \u00ab\u00a0In no small way, these paintings helped convince me I wanted to become an artist,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. He’s titled the suite of eight photographs hanging now at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection \u00ab\u00a0Homage.\u00a0\u00bb The project transcends simple tribute, however, as the artist rekindles the spirit of the Group to capture nature’s marvels from a more modern vantage.<\/p>\n
Sasaki’s work began in the McMichael vault, where he and museum conservator Alison Douglas uncrated the artists’ tools. There were painting palettes from Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Thomson; J.E.H MacDonald’s painting box; Lawren Harris’s paint box and palettes; an easel used by Frank Johnston. In the church of Canadian art, these objects are relics, something like saints’ bones, but what struck the artist most was how ordinary and modest they appeared. The only sign of their magic, he says, was in their patina \u2014 the evidence of the artist’s hard work.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I think because I’ve always thought of the Group of Seven as ‘Canadian art royalty,’ I was picturing very regal tools … gold-plated palettes or something like that,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0When I first saw these objects, I was quite taken aback by how humble some of them were \u2014 homemade and well-worn from use. It was a reminder that many of these artists struggled to make ends meet throughout their lives, and it made them seem more human and relatable.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Franklin Carmichael, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith sterile cotton swabs, Sasaki traced the objects one by one, \u00ab\u00a0paying special attention,\u00a0\u00bb he says, \u00ab\u00a0to areas that would have been handled by their original owners \u2014 the finger holes in the palettes, the handles of the painting boxes.\u00a0\u00bb He then transferred any microbes the swabs may have captured into petri dishes prepared with nutrient agar, meant to foster growth. \u00ab\u00a0There are documented examples of microbes lying dormant for thousands of years to be revived into healthy colonies.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Speckles of yeast and various bacteria appeared after just a day. Then the dots \u00ab\u00a0grew into complicated, variegated shapes,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. After four or five days total, the dishes were ready to begin photographing. He selected the examples most reminiscent of landscapes and looked for attributes within the petri dishes that recalled the artist’s work. The Lismer, for example, is dappled with rose-coloured pebbles and boughs of evergreen; the Harris seems to show a winter scene, just after the first big snowfall has quieted Algoma’s colours.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0If the Group of Seven’s project was to chart a connection between nature and identity,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says, \u00ab\u00a0I think this relationship also resides on the micro level.\u00a0\u00bb The many organisms of our body’s microbiome assist with digestion, bolster our immune system and likely influence mood, behaviour, and even decision-making, the artist explains. \u00ab\u00a0They, to a large degree, help make us who we are.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Jon Sasaki: Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Lawren S. Harris, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhere the Group looked to the vastness of nature to say something about our character, Sasaki peeks into the infinitesimal and finds emotions just as big. \u00ab\u00a0For me, the microbial world is every bit as awe-inspiring as a majestic wilderness landscape,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0It’s equally full of mystery and wonder, terror, malice and benevolence.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It is not meant as barb or slight, then, when Sasaki likens the Group’s iconic vision to something bacterial. \u00ab\u00a0Homage\u00a0\u00bb recognizes the tremendous impact of the Algonquin School, the way those painters encultured our national image, as well as their lasting influence even a century on. It celebrates them. Of course, it also suggests something bigger: that cultures \u2014 whether inside the petri dish or outside of it \u2014 do grow and evolve.<\/p>\n
Jon Sasaki: Homage is on view at the\u00a0McMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/a>\u00a0through September 26.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Published: September 20, 2021<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nAuthor:\u00a0Chris Hampton<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\nJon Sasaki swabbed the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels and photographed the ‘landscapes’<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by A.Y. Jackson, 2020. Archival print 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSquint and you’ll see the Canadian Shield dipping its grey granite fingers into the water. The glassy pool is so still that, reflected in its surface, you can find the trees that climb the hills above. Most have already lost their leaves. It must be the last days of autumn.<\/p>\n
The photograph is indeed a landscape, though it’s a microscopic one. Its scene appears just like one from the Group of Seven, famed chroniclers of Canadian wilderness. And in many ways, it is a scene made by their hands.<\/p>\n
100 years after the Group of Seven’s inaugural 1920 exhibition, Toronto-based artist Jon Sasaki has brought to life a new series of works \u00ab\u00a0from\u00a0\u00bb the Group and its forebear Tom Thomson. He’s done so by swabbing the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels, then photographing the surprising bacterial cultures that have sprung up.<\/p>\nMicrobes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Arthur Lismer, 2020. Archival print. 91.44 x 91.44 cm. (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe playful conceptualist, who began his career as a landscape painter, has admired the Group’s work since early childhood. \u00ab\u00a0In no small way, these paintings helped convince me I wanted to become an artist,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. He’s titled the suite of eight photographs hanging now at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection \u00ab\u00a0Homage.\u00a0\u00bb The project transcends simple tribute, however, as the artist rekindles the spirit of the Group to capture nature’s marvels from a more modern vantage.<\/p>\n
Sasaki’s work began in the McMichael vault, where he and museum conservator Alison Douglas uncrated the artists’ tools. There were painting palettes from Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Thomson; J.E.H MacDonald’s painting box; Lawren Harris’s paint box and palettes; an easel used by Frank Johnston. In the church of Canadian art, these objects are relics, something like saints’ bones, but what struck the artist most was how ordinary and modest they appeared. The only sign of their magic, he says, was in their patina \u2014 the evidence of the artist’s hard work.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I think because I’ve always thought of the Group of Seven as ‘Canadian art royalty,’ I was picturing very regal tools … gold-plated palettes or something like that,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0When I first saw these objects, I was quite taken aback by how humble some of them were \u2014 homemade and well-worn from use. It was a reminder that many of these artists struggled to make ends meet throughout their lives, and it made them seem more human and relatable.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Franklin Carmichael, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith sterile cotton swabs, Sasaki traced the objects one by one, \u00ab\u00a0paying special attention,\u00a0\u00bb he says, \u00ab\u00a0to areas that would have been handled by their original owners \u2014 the finger holes in the palettes, the handles of the painting boxes.\u00a0\u00bb He then transferred any microbes the swabs may have captured into petri dishes prepared with nutrient agar, meant to foster growth. \u00ab\u00a0There are documented examples of microbes lying dormant for thousands of years to be revived into healthy colonies.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Speckles of yeast and various bacteria appeared after just a day. Then the dots \u00ab\u00a0grew into complicated, variegated shapes,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. After four or five days total, the dishes were ready to begin photographing. He selected the examples most reminiscent of landscapes and looked for attributes within the petri dishes that recalled the artist’s work. The Lismer, for example, is dappled with rose-coloured pebbles and boughs of evergreen; the Harris seems to show a winter scene, just after the first big snowfall has quieted Algoma’s colours.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0If the Group of Seven’s project was to chart a connection between nature and identity,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says, \u00ab\u00a0I think this relationship also resides on the micro level.\u00a0\u00bb The many organisms of our body’s microbiome assist with digestion, bolster our immune system and likely influence mood, behaviour, and even decision-making, the artist explains. \u00ab\u00a0They, to a large degree, help make us who we are.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Jon Sasaki: Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Lawren S. Harris, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhere the Group looked to the vastness of nature to say something about our character, Sasaki peeks into the infinitesimal and finds emotions just as big. \u00ab\u00a0For me, the microbial world is every bit as awe-inspiring as a majestic wilderness landscape,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0It’s equally full of mystery and wonder, terror, malice and benevolence.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It is not meant as barb or slight, then, when Sasaki likens the Group’s iconic vision to something bacterial. \u00ab\u00a0Homage\u00a0\u00bb recognizes the tremendous impact of the Algonquin School, the way those painters encultured our national image, as well as their lasting influence even a century on. It celebrates them. Of course, it also suggests something bigger: that cultures \u2014 whether inside the petri dish or outside of it \u2014 do grow and evolve.<\/p>\n
Jon Sasaki: Homage is on view at the\u00a0McMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/a>\u00a0through September 26.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Jon Sasaki swabbed the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels and photographed the ‘landscapes’<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by A.Y. Jackson, 2020. Archival print 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSquint and you’ll see the Canadian Shield dipping its grey granite fingers into the water. The glassy pool is so still that, reflected in its surface, you can find the trees that climb the hills above. Most have already lost their leaves. It must be the last days of autumn.<\/p>\n
The photograph is indeed a landscape, though it’s a microscopic one. Its scene appears just like one from the Group of Seven, famed chroniclers of Canadian wilderness. And in many ways, it is a scene made by their hands.<\/p>\n
100 years after the Group of Seven’s inaugural 1920 exhibition, Toronto-based artist Jon Sasaki has brought to life a new series of works \u00ab\u00a0from\u00a0\u00bb the Group and its forebear Tom Thomson. He’s done so by swabbing the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels, then photographing the surprising bacterial cultures that have sprung up.<\/p>\nMicrobes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Arthur Lismer, 2020. Archival print. 91.44 x 91.44 cm. (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe playful conceptualist, who began his career as a landscape painter, has admired the Group’s work since early childhood. \u00ab\u00a0In no small way, these paintings helped convince me I wanted to become an artist,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. He’s titled the suite of eight photographs hanging now at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection \u00ab\u00a0Homage.\u00a0\u00bb The project transcends simple tribute, however, as the artist rekindles the spirit of the Group to capture nature’s marvels from a more modern vantage.<\/p>\n
Sasaki’s work began in the McMichael vault, where he and museum conservator Alison Douglas uncrated the artists’ tools. There were painting palettes from Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Thomson; J.E.H MacDonald’s painting box; Lawren Harris’s paint box and palettes; an easel used by Frank Johnston. In the church of Canadian art, these objects are relics, something like saints’ bones, but what struck the artist most was how ordinary and modest they appeared. The only sign of their magic, he says, was in their patina \u2014 the evidence of the artist’s hard work.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I think because I’ve always thought of the Group of Seven as ‘Canadian art royalty,’ I was picturing very regal tools … gold-plated palettes or something like that,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0When I first saw these objects, I was quite taken aback by how humble some of them were \u2014 homemade and well-worn from use. It was a reminder that many of these artists struggled to make ends meet throughout their lives, and it made them seem more human and relatable.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Franklin Carmichael, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith sterile cotton swabs, Sasaki traced the objects one by one, \u00ab\u00a0paying special attention,\u00a0\u00bb he says, \u00ab\u00a0to areas that would have been handled by their original owners \u2014 the finger holes in the palettes, the handles of the painting boxes.\u00a0\u00bb He then transferred any microbes the swabs may have captured into petri dishes prepared with nutrient agar, meant to foster growth. \u00ab\u00a0There are documented examples of microbes lying dormant for thousands of years to be revived into healthy colonies.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Speckles of yeast and various bacteria appeared after just a day. Then the dots \u00ab\u00a0grew into complicated, variegated shapes,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. After four or five days total, the dishes were ready to begin photographing. He selected the examples most reminiscent of landscapes and looked for attributes within the petri dishes that recalled the artist’s work. The Lismer, for example, is dappled with rose-coloured pebbles and boughs of evergreen; the Harris seems to show a winter scene, just after the first big snowfall has quieted Algoma’s colours.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0If the Group of Seven’s project was to chart a connection between nature and identity,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says, \u00ab\u00a0I think this relationship also resides on the micro level.\u00a0\u00bb The many organisms of our body’s microbiome assist with digestion, bolster our immune system and likely influence mood, behaviour, and even decision-making, the artist explains. \u00ab\u00a0They, to a large degree, help make us who we are.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\nDetail shot of Jon Sasaki: Microbes Swabbed From a Palette Used by Lawren S. Harris, 2020. Archival print. 91.4 \u00d7 91.4 cm (36 \u00d7 36 in.) (Jon Sasaki\/Clint Roenisch Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhere the Group looked to the vastness of nature to say something about our character, Sasaki peeks into the infinitesimal and finds emotions just as big. \u00ab\u00a0For me, the microbial world is every bit as awe-inspiring as a majestic wilderness landscape,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0It’s equally full of mystery and wonder, terror, malice and benevolence.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
It is not meant as barb or slight, then, when Sasaki likens the Group’s iconic vision to something bacterial. \u00ab\u00a0Homage\u00a0\u00bb recognizes the tremendous impact of the Algonquin School, the way those painters encultured our national image, as well as their lasting influence even a century on. It celebrates them. Of course, it also suggests something bigger: that cultures \u2014 whether inside the petri dish or outside of it \u2014 do grow and evolve.<\/p>\n
Jon Sasaki: Homage is on view at the\u00a0McMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/a>\u00a0through September 26.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6182464.1632155082!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/jon-sasaki.jpg\")
Squint and you’ll see the Canadian Shield dipping its grey granite fingers into the water. The glassy pool is so still that, reflected in its surface, you can find the trees that climb the hills above. Most have already lost their leaves. It must be the last days of autumn.<\/p>\n
The photograph is indeed a landscape, though it’s a microscopic one. Its scene appears just like one from the Group of Seven, famed chroniclers of Canadian wilderness. And in many ways, it is a scene made by their hands.<\/p>\n
100 years after the Group of Seven’s inaugural 1920 exhibition, Toronto-based artist Jon Sasaki has brought to life a new series of works \u00ab\u00a0from\u00a0\u00bb the Group and its forebear Tom Thomson. He’s done so by swabbing the painters’ brushes, paint boxes and easels, then photographing the surprising bacterial cultures that have sprung up.<\/p>\n The playful conceptualist, who began his career as a landscape painter, has admired the Group’s work since early childhood. \u00ab\u00a0In no small way, these paintings helped convince me I wanted to become an artist,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. He’s titled the suite of eight photographs hanging now at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection \u00ab\u00a0Homage.\u00a0\u00bb The project transcends simple tribute, however, as the artist rekindles the spirit of the Group to capture nature’s marvels from a more modern vantage.<\/p>\n Sasaki’s work began in the McMichael vault, where he and museum conservator Alison Douglas uncrated the artists’ tools. There were painting palettes from Frederick Varley, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Thomson; J.E.H MacDonald’s painting box; Lawren Harris’s paint box and palettes; an easel used by Frank Johnston. In the church of Canadian art, these objects are relics, something like saints’ bones, but what struck the artist most was how ordinary and modest they appeared. The only sign of their magic, he says, was in their patina \u2014 the evidence of the artist’s hard work.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0I think because I’ve always thought of the Group of Seven as ‘Canadian art royalty,’ I was picturing very regal tools … gold-plated palettes or something like that,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0When I first saw these objects, I was quite taken aback by how humble some of them were \u2014 homemade and well-worn from use. It was a reminder that many of these artists struggled to make ends meet throughout their lives, and it made them seem more human and relatable.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n With sterile cotton swabs, Sasaki traced the objects one by one, \u00ab\u00a0paying special attention,\u00a0\u00bb he says, \u00ab\u00a0to areas that would have been handled by their original owners \u2014 the finger holes in the palettes, the handles of the painting boxes.\u00a0\u00bb He then transferred any microbes the swabs may have captured into petri dishes prepared with nutrient agar, meant to foster growth. \u00ab\u00a0There are documented examples of microbes lying dormant for thousands of years to be revived into healthy colonies.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n Speckles of yeast and various bacteria appeared after just a day. Then the dots \u00ab\u00a0grew into complicated, variegated shapes,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says. After four or five days total, the dishes were ready to begin photographing. He selected the examples most reminiscent of landscapes and looked for attributes within the petri dishes that recalled the artist’s work. The Lismer, for example, is dappled with rose-coloured pebbles and boughs of evergreen; the Harris seems to show a winter scene, just after the first big snowfall has quieted Algoma’s colours.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0If the Group of Seven’s project was to chart a connection between nature and identity,\u00a0\u00bb Sasaki says, \u00ab\u00a0I think this relationship also resides on the micro level.\u00a0\u00bb The many organisms of our body’s microbiome assist with digestion, bolster our immune system and likely influence mood, behaviour, and even decision-making, the artist explains. \u00ab\u00a0They, to a large degree, help make us who we are.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n Where the Group looked to the vastness of nature to say something about our character, Sasaki peeks into the infinitesimal and finds emotions just as big. \u00ab\u00a0For me, the microbial world is every bit as awe-inspiring as a majestic wilderness landscape,\u00a0\u00bb he says. \u00ab\u00a0It’s equally full of mystery and wonder, terror, malice and benevolence.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n It is not meant as barb or slight, then, when Sasaki likens the Group’s iconic vision to something bacterial. \u00ab\u00a0Homage\u00a0\u00bb recognizes the tremendous impact of the Algonquin School, the way those painters encultured our national image, as well as their lasting influence even a century on. It celebrates them. Of course, it also suggests something bigger: that cultures \u2014 whether inside the petri dish or outside of it \u2014 do grow and evolve.<\/p>\n Jon Sasaki: Homage is on view at the\u00a0McMichael Canadian Art Collection<\/a>\u00a0through September 26.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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