Nest – 2019 Canterbury High School – Some of my earlier mixed media paintings and drawings consisted of many images of nests, hives, birds and insects.  The image of the nest was one that kept coming back to me as its symbolism lends itself to interpretation beyond that of familial life; it extends to the greater Nest of humanity and Mother Earth that we all inhabit.  Given my line of thinking it seemed a natural progression to bring the nests from my paintings and drawings into three dimensions, into ‘real life’.  After the success of working collaboratively on the “I, Canada” exhibition I decided to invite others to work with me.  I brought my nest prototype to the very talented student body at Canterbury High School and we began the process of brainstorming how to create a larger than life sized nest.  Through the development of the prototype I came up with an ‘x’ shaped pattern made out of wire that was simple to create in large groups and that, when connected, created a web-like netting that could support the weaving and wrapping of textiles that covered the nest’s frame.  We agreed, as a group, to build ‘Nest’ in a series of large coils, similar, in concept, to the hand building technique used in clay construction.