Shayne Dark -- WINDFALL

This series of 8 new abstract sculptures by Shayne Dark is made from applewood burls collected from apple orchards in Prince Edward County. "Many of the local apple orchardists were paid by the government to cut down their apple trees in order to control the apple market," says Shayne. "This meant perfectly healthy mature apple trees were destroyed for the commodity markets during a period where the trend is to eat local. I collected these burls, stripped off the bark and stored them for a number of years to allow these dense burls to dry out. My original intent was to fill the natural cracks, sand smooth and paint the burls in a solid colour. However after spending time repairing the cracking in the dried burls he found a beauty in the repair. I was reminded of the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery Kintsugi. The philosophy that treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than disguising the repair."