Or(e): Nelson  is a series of sculpture that studies the transformation of community as determined by its economy. The first sculpture, created for Ark Exhibit at Touchstones Museum of Art and History (Nelson,BC), uses historical data in the form of pie graphs as patterns for composition focusing on Nelson’s population and labour force from the year of incorporation to present day. 
Or(e): Nelson #2 & #3, created for the BOOM! Project, acknowledges the process of a community seeking its identity.   

In my research I have read pages and pages of surveys and recommendations in the many reports pertaining to the development of Nelson with regards to growth, zoning, heritage, waterfront, culture, etc.  Based on this analysis, there have been both constructive and destructive decisions made. 

Or(e): Nelson #2 & #3 represent two single pages of graph paper.  Each page includes layers of assorted metal patterns in the jagged form of a multiple line graph study as determined by selected data found in developmental reports such as the City of Nelson Official Community Plan, Visioning Document for the West and Central Waterfront, and The Economic Impact of the Arts in Nelson.  Data under study includes: the value of building permits, residential real estate prices, population, % change in average income, the number of incorporations, and an Arts per-capita GDP comparison of Nelson to major Canadian cities.

Or(e): Nelson #2 is folded into three equal parts, as to represent the signed/sealed/delivered form of that which has been accepted in terms of community development; Or(e): Nelson #3 is crumpled (with the claws of a backhoe), as to represent that which has been discarded. 

Technical credits:  Special thanks to Bueno Bauer for his backhoe prowess and to Dave May for some welding.