MARK RAYNES ROBERTS

ILLUMINATION -

"Portraits of Canadian Literature" will be exhibited at the Gardiner Museum, (Oct 26 - Nov 11, 2015) presenting a new 12-piece hand engraved crystal art collection with themes based upon narrative passages on light by 12 of Canada's leading authors. (chosen by the Writers Trust Advisory Board.) Concurrently, the International Festival of Authors, Harbourfront Centre and the Toronto Reference Library, will present ILLUMINATION, “Portraits of Canadian Authors,” a projected art installation of 150 portraits photographed by the artist over 2 years which celebrates Canada's literary treasury of established and emerging authors.

“Literatureis an art of illumination. Every author wants to shed light on some truth no matter what form the writing takes: fiction or non-fiction. Writing is a pursuit of knowledge and understanding; the desire to bring attention to a story that needs to be told, whether it be about a person, an imagined life, an issue, a part of our history or the human condition. This is why literature is important. We’re not only enriched by it; we’re connected by it."

Crystal continues to intrigue me. It's a man-made material - one that has changed the world technologically. But for me as an artist, it is a canvas that provides limitless properties for narrative landscapes, both spiritual and natural, real and surreal.

It can reflect and distort, and the signature techniques of ancient engraving which I use - a combination of diamond wheel and stipple - convey a message that is at once ethereal and complex. The refractive qualities of the crystal provide the perfect multi-faceted canvas for what I now refer to as dreamscapes of our collective conscience.