JANE ZDANSKY // Westport, Nova Scotia, Canada
My art has always been and remains about solace. My desire now as I mature is to be part of a wider narrative on social issues using the objects found around me.
I’m currently living on a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia, a place that is complex and full of contradictions, a place that is facing full on the issues of climate change, declining fish stocks and a declining economy.
My simple shore finds depicted in the image reflect the issues, contradictions and reality found here.
The landscape image was copied from a pattern found on a stone. It actually looks like the existing land and sky scenes in the area. The gleaming white seal bone is all that was left of a seal that was shot a few years ago. It was shot by a local either in a belief that all seals are pests that eat too many of the few fish that are left or it was just for the fun of it. The flower, a seaweed washed ashore, is one of hundreds of seaweed varieties that exist in the area. There are scientists who are calling for the area to become a marine sanctuary on this fact alone. There are also some within the fishing community that are calling for all the Bay of Fundy to be made into a marine sanctuary with only handline fishing allowed. Handline fishing would allow more people to get their fair of fish, distributed the wealth created more evenly and protect the fish stocks within the bay. More people would be encouraged to stay, the economy would recover and the environment would be protected.
