Karin Silverstone

I grew up on a farm in Bruce County surrounded by open fields and the lake. My artwork explores a range of mixed media techniques, however focuses on pencil drawing as a means to an end. My previous landscapes repurpose plaster and lath, including remnants of wallpaper to add variety, as well as to help the viewer make the connection to the original purpose of the locally sourced lath. The reconstructed “walls” provide a great support for the plaster and acrylic however in this artwork, more of the original lath wall is maintained rather than reconstructed as seen in my other work, in order to provide a hiding spot. 

"If this wall could talk" is a departure from my pencil drawings of landscapes, exposing a more private aspect of a childhood trauma that I experienced growing up in small town Ontario. It is a subject matter not previously exhibited nor openly spoken of.  The papers hidden in the wall document portions of a complicated custody battle that, for a long time, seemed to be best left in the walls. The image is of the farmhouse I lived in just before things unraveled between my parents and the papers document the struggles within the system. As much as I know that the story of my early years is fascinating to some, it is something I have rarely wanted to share. It’s been 50 years now and I am ready to take a second look.