Brick by Brick: Absence VS Presence, by Toronto-based artist Heidi McKenzie, is a multi-media installation featuring archival and contemporary photographs, augmented reality, ceramic sculpture, sound, and video projection.
“My father, Joseph McKenzie, (1930-2016) was born and raised in Trinidad, under British Colonial rule. My father was a very dark-skinned man of Indian descent. He came to Canada in 1953 to study at McMaster University. Canada pre-1968, exercised a whites-only immigration policy. My father, and his brother were two of five persons of colour on campus. During the summer, he and his brother worked in the furnaces at Stelco in Hamilton, Ontario. They were brick masons, assigned to the hottest temperature job. They worked alongside workers of African descent. What struck me, and continues to haunt me, is the fact that the white foremen openly assumed that the darker your skin, the more heat you could withstand. This inquiry propelled the questions I explore in Brick by Brick. ”
Heidi speaking about the work and the inspiration for each component in the show.
Clip of my 6-minute film, Wave, edit and sound design by David Adkin
30- second example of the augmented reality animation on the brick surfaces. Hover on the virtual tour to see them.
One of the 7 Absence dyptichs in the series on the wall, 60” x 28”, images courtesy of I-XL Industries Inc.
Thanks and acknowledgements: Director/Curator Galleries and Collections, Xanthe Ibister, for believing in this project and helping it come to fruition, Dan Meller, Preparator and Gallery Assistant, the whole team at the City of Medicine Hat. Many thanks to Medalta in the Historic District for the loan of the bricks for WAVE. Thanks to James Kuehn and Kira Vliestra, for making the augmented reality reality; David Adkin for going the distance on the video. Thank you to all those who helped, guided, coached, patiently lent a hand: Malcolm Sissons, former CEO of I-XL Industries Inc. and Al Dillman, former foreman at I-XL, for sharing their knowledge, time and expertise; Kris Samraj, City Counsellor; Jim Marshall, former I-XL Marketing Manager; Jennifer Barrientos, Assistant Archivist, and Susan McKinnon, former Collections Manager at Medalta in the Historic Clay District; and to Aaron Nelson, former Executive Director at Medalta in the Historic Clay District for giving me the nudge to make my dreams happen and Joanne Marion for opening the door to the possibility.
I would like to acknowledge the Toronto Arts Council for the original grant to develop the project and the Canada Council for the Arts for the Concept to Creation grant to realize the exhibition in its entirety.