embrace
A public art installation created for Winter Stations 2026, selected by the jury for construction and installation on Woodbine Beach in Toronto in February 2026.
The one-word brief for this year’s competition was MIRAGE. My goal was to create a mirage-like illusion that would engage viewers from different distances and perspectives. Embrace is a sliced 3D sculpture of my hands, constructed with laser cut plywood sheets. One side of each slice is painted black, while the opposite side is painted a bright colour. From east and west angles you can see straight through the sculpture, making it nearly disappear. From a south-facing vantage point, you’ll get an imposing dark silhouette of the two hands reaching up from the beach. And if you walk around to get a north-facing view, you’ll see a rainbow of colour and the open palms of the hands.
Embrace reaches out toward the viewer, inviting them closer, to approach from different angles, gain a new perspective, and ultimately reward them for embracing the sculpture itself.