Blacksmith Mark Puigmarti said his sculpture, Unity Undeniable, came out of a sense of being “bewildered” by what is happening in the U.S.
He said his forged and fabricated stainless steel and bronze installation at Wind in the Willows, is a “mythical creature inspired from some of our renowned Canadian wildlife” to represent the “incredible patriotism” being displayed by Canadians now.
The sculpture features moose antlers, a Canada Goose neck and head, the torso of a blue heron, feet of a Canada Goose and heron, and a beaver tail.
This year’s sculptures were introduced at the Rails End Gallery May 7.
Curator of the Haliburton Sculpture Forest, and downtown Haliburton Sculpture Exhibition, Jim Blake, said it was the eighth exhibition.
“This is a wonderful collaboration between the Haliburton Village Business Improvement Area (BIA) and the Haliburton Sculpture Forest,” he said.
Blake added when installing this week, someone asked if people actually noticed the sculptures on the street. At that moment, he said Bill Gliddon walked across and said, “‘this is just so fantastic, it adds so much to our downtown’.”
Other artists include Garrett Gilbert, whose Botanical Canoe – a hand-cut salvaged aluminum canoe etched with flowers – is at Rails End Gallery. He described himself as “a carver of unnatural resources.”
Daniella Reddick was en route to becoming a surgeon, but after her first autopsy “panicked and quit.” The artist’s bronze and mesh piece, Bronze Sky Pods, is at the corner of Highland and York streets.
Marlene Kawalez sculpted Friends, drawn from processing events in Ukraine. The piece features a person facing a bird. It’s at the entrance to Haliburton Foodland.
Carole Chaloupka Burton explored themes of “fragile masculinity” in sculpting her grandsons in her artwork Soul of a Boy. “I’m concerned about the world; how they’re going to experience the world as young men,” she said. For her, art is about processing life, including the death of her brother when he was in his 20s. Her sculpture is at BMO.
Jared Tait’s Ma’iingan is PVC painted with mural paints. It addresses creation stories and is at Corner Gallery.
Kim Collin’s Geese Please is made from recycled outdoors materials and is in front of Glecoff’s Family Store.
The downtown sculptures are an outdoor exhibition of Ontario artists. It runs this year until Oct. 26. The sculptures are installed at sites along Highland, Maple, and York, the main streets of the downtown core of Haliburton Village. Each year, they have a new exhibition. The sculptures are for sale.
