Vancouver Magazine The Last Stand 2015
TRUNK SHOW
An exhibition mourns a time when you won't see the forest for the trees.
Vancouver Magazine
(Advance press for The Last Stand 2015 exhibition at Initial Gallery)
"Five generations of my family have been a part of the forest industry in British Columbia", says Cortes Island photographer David Ellingsen. "From falling old-growth trees and clear-cutting to contributing to local sustainable harvest initiatives and environmental responsibility".
It's no wonder, then, that his current show - he's been exhibiting for a dozen years - concerns remnants of the ancient forests that surround him. Mighty stumps, like the rotting carcasses of dinosaurs, suggest how modern industrial practices bring Mother Earth to her knees, even as the painterly beauty of these Last Stand compositions celebrates the beauty bound up in the aging of the earth. Is there a paradox between visions of devotion and despair? Of course - as only a British Columbian can articulate.