Perdidos Los Queridos -

a video collage or moving tapestry of interviews with women speaking about those they have loved and lost.

Faces of the interviewees are layered over images of Canadian landscape juxtaposed with disturbing images appropriated from televised news broadcasts.

The pace is slow, hypnotic and vaguely perplexing.

There is a deliberate disconnect between the stories told by the women and the video imagery.

I invited people from all cultures to participate in the interviews. Few were willing to speak about those they had lost or their experiences in war-torn lands. I encountered a powerful silence; whether it was fear of recrimination or respect for the dead, many exhibited a just and honourable reluctance to speak.


The camera invades privacy, exposing, sensationalizing and de-personalizing. In this age of communication we are constantly bombarded by news: we "witness" global disasters and wars on a daily basis to the point that it becomes almost commonplace. Have we become inured to what we now know, hear and see?

We risk forgetting that these mangled bodies smeared across the television screen are people who once loved and were loved by others.


With this in mind, I chose to contrast each woman?s personal and detailed story with impersonal and recurring news images.

In avoiding the specifics associated with any given horror as witnessed on the news and focusing on personal stories I aim to draw attention back to the personal level: urging contemplation of the subtler underlying issues of inter-cultural unrest, our shifting Canadian identity, the importance of every individual and the loss to humanity upon their passing, and the continued hope for peace in the world.

Perdidos Los Queridos was created in honour of those lost through the March 11 2004 train bombing in Madrid.

Perdidos Los Queridos is a collage of images of nature in Canada juxtaposed with images from news from around the world; and, over these images, are layered faces of people speaking about people they have loved and lost through untimely death.

The video collage is presented in several formats:

1) as a stand-alone video installation;

2) as a mixed media installation with 'Shellshock' the encaustic and eggshell installation; and

3) as part of the 'Shellshock' installation and performance.