A wall-mounted mosaic artwork by Brianne Urzada was installed on the south wall of the Archway exhibition space on the main floor of Archer Library in February. Urzada was selected as the 2020 Michele Sereda Artist in Residence for Socially Engaged Practice. Created by the Faculty of Media, Art and Performance in 2015, the residency honours the memory of Sereda, who, along with four others, was tragically killed in a highway crash in February of that year. The 2020 residency was a partnership between the Faculty of MAP and the Faculty of Nursing.
In the artists own words, the piece:
Life, I’ve learned, seldom goes to plan. Addressing Hope was no exception.
My vision for this project was to create a large-scale community artwork depicting my five-year cancer-free MRI scan. I distributed 50 art kits to cancer patients and survivors across rural Saskatchewan, inviting them to each return one completed title artwork for incorporation into the piece. These titles would then be carefully dyed, cut, sanded, placed, sealed, and grouted to form a cohesive artwork that symbolized hope.
Then my plan fell apart. Through research and consultations, I’d chosen sealants I was sure would preserve participants’ original ink; as I began to grout, however, I watched that ink literally disappear before my eyes. I spent the next five day devastated, scrubbing my fingers raw to remove the sealant and ultimately, colour from the tiles.
At the end of those five days, I looked down at the cleaned-off piece – a far cry from what I’d originally planned – at it hit me: this was it. The process forced me to surrender, and to accept that we are never as in control as we tell ourselves we are. I saw the artwork for what it was: beautiful in its own right.
Just like my cancer, in the end Addressing Hope was wiped clean. No matter your situation or outcome, my wish for you is to let go and lean in. Finding acceptance, especially in times of discomfort and uncertainty, is the surest pathway to peace, gratitude, and new beginnings.*
- Brianne Urzada