Author: saravipond

Message/ Concept/ Ideation

I want to convey the idea of existing in an interdependent world- either between species of plants and animals or within a species.

Living in Cumberland, I am very interested in how the community exists and interacts. A lot of connections are made through music- live events or jamming together- sports and outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, lake swimming. There are writers and artists who gather and exhibit their work. Many of us get our inspiration and energy from the forest and mountains around us. It’s a village with a lot of young families, as well as elders and those in between. It’s also welcoming and inclusive to the queer community- with regular gatherings and events at the Weird Church, for example. We also have a food bank that serves anyone in need of sustenance.

I’m interested how we all blend or weave together to make a cohesive whole- not perfect but beautiful and supportive. People of all ages, with diverse skills and qualities creating a whole that is welcoming to old friends and newcomers alike.

My idea of interdependent species is around the ecosystem of a salmon or trout stream on Vancouver Island. Fish are born in the creek and make their way to the lake. People help with this when the creek dries up- they rescue baby fish and take them to the lake. Eventually the salmon will make their way to the ocean and travel the seas for years and many miles before returning to the very place they began their journey. Some of the salmon will be caught by humans for food. Some will be eaten by bears and their remains will fertilize the trees- keeping the forest healthy. The salmon that make it home will lay their eggs and fertilize them and then die. Their rotting bodies will provide nutrients for their eggs to thrive. Humans help in this process by bringing in gravel to areas that have been degraded by past human activity (industrial- eg logging). Hatcheries also help to keep salmon stocks healthy, although it would be great to have no need of these interventions.

Rewilding projects such as Kus-Kus-Sum in K’omoks and Raven Park (Baikie Island) in Campbell River will benefit salmon enormously- returning land to it’s pre-industrail state.

3 Ideas

Firstly I am wondering about making overlapping prints to show the process of the Kus-Kus-Sum rewilding project. I would need to research this as I don’t have my own photographs to use as reference points.

I might do overlayered mono-prints or I may also do some screen printing and create the layers/matrices by drawing or a combination thereof. It will be a large piece of paper- I have yet to decide the type and specific dimensions.

A very large paper would allow me to offset some of the layers to give a ghost like effect. I would also use different opacities of ink to suggest the fading and passing of time. I’m not sure of colours but I envision the original layer of what the area looked like pre-colonisation might be in red or brownish red. The industrial layer might be dark grey. The derelict layer a pale grey and the newly rewilded ares in a green or greenish blue.

I also have the idea of incorporating fragments of a poem I have written in pen and ink.

I have researched the project as a whole- reading the following articles.

https://komoksfestival.com/highlights1/kus-kus-sum

https://comoxvalleyrecord.com/2026/01/22/kus-kus-sum-project-reaches-major-milestone-with-retaining-wall-removal/: FIN 211 Unit 3

I also followed the progress with my lived experience of driving by the village site over the last few years and watching the progress. I remember feeling a visceral sense of relief the day I drove by and all the metal pilings were gone (besides the necessary reinforcing ones by the bridge). I felt that the lans and the river were heaving a great sigh of relief. I came home and wrote a poem. This is what I have so far:

Kus-Kus-Sum

.

Kus-Kus-Sum heaves a great sigh

takes an ocean-deep breath

.

No longer hemmed in

no longer braced by steel

nor weighed down by concrete

.

She is free

free to return

to her natural state

~before industrial levels

of resource extraction

clipped her wings

          ~before the take, take

          of newly arrived men

          reshaped her banks

.

She is free to return

to mourn and honour

her K’omoks ancestors

laid to rest by the Pəntl’áč River

where life flows unending

where salmon have journeyed

back and forth for ever

.

Where Nootka roses once decorated the shore

where salmonberries ripened in June

and red flowering current in July

shaded by Willow, Alder and Douglas Fir

watched over by Queneesh

the great white whale

.

The way it was for millennia

the way it was meant to be

the way it will be once more

Kus-Kus-Sum

Kus-Kus-Sum

Kus-Kus-Sum

By Carys Owen

Another Idea is to tell the story of a Vancouver Island Salmon stream from egg to spawning salmon and the interdependence within the ecosystem with other species and the stream. I would create a circular work (cylindrical) that someone could walk around and get back to the beginning. I would use water from a local creek in part of the process.

I also have the idea of incorporating fragments of a poem I have written in pen and ink. This poem was written after visiting my local salmon stream and wondering when they would arrive…if they would arrive…they did and I was so grateful!

Salmon Odys-sea

We’re waiting by the river
every day this week
waiting to see you
swimming upstream
doing what you do best
turning philosophy on its head
as you refuse to go
with the flow

We wait in hallowed silence
to see your sacred entrance
and know the Anthropocene
elevates your arrival
to an odys-sea
as you battle with
storms
heat
drought
floods
and other harms

We’re waiting by the river
with a heartfelt apology
with reverence and gratitude
with a promise
to do better

With the hope that you
will never give up

By Carys Owen

A third idea is to convey the connections between community members of Cumberland and with their ecosystem. It could be a series of drawings presented in a folding book that can be viewed as separate pages and also opened out to be one big image.

I also have the idea of incorporating fragments of a poem I have written in pen and ink. This is a poem I wrote last year. I might write a new one about this year- I was so moved by some of the messages along the main street on Valentine’s Day- about being kind, caring for everyone, living a peaceful life etc

Cynical

.

It’s Valentine’s Day in Cumberland

and hearts pop up around town

~ in child-like script ‘I luv my Mom’

scribed for a tot ‘I love my dog’

written by an elder ‘Love to all’~

.

And my visitor ponders

‘Am I too cynical for Cumberland?’

.

They have been stickering

‘Abolish the monarchy’ and have

a hundred and one vital causes they support

they want to rail and know others

get it too…and truly I do

.

I sit with these words as a singleton

who receives sparse messages of love

and know that I was moved by the

telegraph pole valentines-

that fed my soul, that filled me up

democratizing who receives an ‘I love you’

.

It feels like fortifying the soil

before planting the seeds

this kindness readies me to go out

in the world, to build community

to speak of the things that matter

to create safe spaces

to make a better world

from the ground up

.

By Carys Owen

Project 2 CHALLENGE

Proposal:

Concept:

Connections in ecosystems- focus on mycorrhizal network that connect trees and serve as a delivery system for nutrients. My viewpoint is that these networks are essential to healthy forests. It can be extrapolated out to human communities where the connections we make with each other sustain us and can lead to vibrant communities where people look out for each other. I have read works by Suzanne Simard (Finding the Mothertree) and Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass) that have influenced me greatly and reinforced my sense of the interconnectedness of ecosystems- based on scientific research, stories anecdotal evidence and indigenous knowledge.

After brainstorming, I have two other possible ideas- one portraying the life-cycle of a rainbow trout (ink on rock). The other is to embroider an old t-shirt with symbols of the community where I live- Cumberland. I feel all three ideas relate well to my theme if eco-systems and inter-connectedness.

I have also engaged in several experimental drawing exercise to try and loosen up my imagination regarding what drawing is and can be.

Context:

I will use a variety of colours and textures to convey the idea of a network (perhaps reminiscent of electrical networks. There will be a variety of trees, plants and funghi being connected by the threads.

 I plan to present my work on the ground to locate it where a log would normally be and to suggest the continuation of the network into the ground. I may even have some threads trailing off the log(s) to suggest they are reaching into the ground.

Some thoughts about my other two ideas are on page 2.

Production:

My current idea is to source some driftwood and use hammer and nails to create the basis for wrapping yarn, string, moss, various materials to create a network connecting trees together. I may make more than one and connect them together across the divide. The size will vary on what driftwood I might find but I imagine it to be around 0.5 m‚ to 1m‚

Some thoughts about my other two ideas are on page 2.

Portfolio Theme Development

3 Ideas:

Community- forest, micorrhizal networks, salmon streams, village, human connections

Recipes/ Chemical Reactions- ingredients for a cake/ ingredients for a happy life. Neuroscience

Artificial Intelligence (AI)- What is real? What is creativity?

These are the notes I made. After discussion in class I have decided to choose Eco-Systems as my theme for this term.

Artist Research:

Sandra Vásquez de la Horra uses a technique that interests me where she stiffens her drawings with wax in order to allow them to be sculpted into free-standing shapes. I would be interested to try this.

https://www.vasquezdelahorra.com

Ed Pien has a series called ‘Invasive Species’ that explores the beauty of several plants with green line drawings in a wide format. I like the repetition of the colour from piece to piece while each invasive species design clearly is unique. The wide format is also appealing.

He also has a series called ‘Ocean Drawing’ where he used ocean water mixed with white ink as part of his process. This gives me the idea to use creek water for a pen and ink drawing inspired by my local salmon stream.

https://www.edpien.com/invasivespecies

Elizabeth Cross has a series of tree drawings rendered in pencil on paper. I am interested to see how she creates value to convey the contours of the bark as she focuses mainly on the trunks and branches.

https://alexandrasasse.com/artwork-category/elizabeth-cross

Eco-Systems

The inspiration for my theme comes largely from the forests around Cumberland. I walk here every day and am constantly amazed by the beauty and diversity of life I witness.

I have been very influenced by the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Suzanne Simard both of whom describe the interdependence of life in the natural world. I am intrigued by the presence of micorrhizal networks that connect trees in the forest through a symbiotic relationship with funghi.

The presence of Mother Trees in the forest is also of great interest to me. These are the trees that co-ordinate the delivery of resources to smaller (often related) trees. The understanding of these systems is vital to maintaining healthy forests and informing forestry practises.

One way I envisage the theme developing is through a drawing of a powerful Mother Tree bathed in sunlight. I will use a multitude of greens to convey the richness of the forest eco-system. It’s possible that the tree will take on spirit form, with a face subtly incorporated into the bark. This speaks of my connection with the eco-system.

The roots will be reaching down and the branches will be be reaching up- connecting earth to sky. This is a concept that came to me with some visual information but that I know will become richer through the drawing process.

I also imagine creating a pen and ink drawing of the salmon stream (Perseverance Creek). Possibly from an underwater perspective and perhaps made to be free standing by coating it in wax and shaping it. For this project, I would use water from the stream as part of the process.

The greenery of the forest is amazing and I see an exploration of the many shades of green as something I will enjoy.

To translate this theme to a human level, I am wondering about creating a piece where humans are in tension or conflict with AI- wondering with what’s real and what’s not and what AI even is. The idea of moving further away from nature into a digital world of tech – with its pros and cons- would also be pertinent. To show digital networks, I might try to do an under-drawing of a motherboard or even have part of the drawing ripped away to reveal something else beneath. The notion of virtual reality and actual/physical reality comes to mind.