Haunting art exhibit makes impression
|
|
|
Alexandra Zabjek |
|
edmontonjournal.com |
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
|
EDMONTON - Fifty pairs of eyes focus on the centre of a room where dozens of black shrouded figures are clustered.
It's a haunting image. It focuses attention on a haunting topic.
The portraits and figures are part of a Works art exhibit called "A Roomful of Missing Women," featuring paintings of 50 women from Vancouver's downtown eastside who are missing or have been murdered. The multimedia show by Betty Kovacic is on display at the Stanley Milner Library until July 2.
"I thought it was important that people in Edmonton have opportunities to understand the impact of having missing and murdered women," said Kathy King, from the Prostitution Awareness Action Foundation of Edmonton, which helped bring the exhibit to this city.
"There are so many missing and murdered women in Edmonton, it seems that what's happening in Edmonton was a repeat of what was happening in Vancouver."
King's own daughter, Caralyn, was found dead in a canola field in Sherwood Park more than 10 years ago. The exhibit's black shrouded figures, which are draped in sashes that describe childhood dreams, struck a particular chord with King.
"(My daughter's) dreams were so simple and so profound at the same time," King said. "She didn't want much from life but even what little she wanted, she wasn't able to achieve because of what her addictions did to her."
Kovacic will be at the exhibit on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday afternoons. An artist's reception will take place on Friday night at the library and is open to the public.
For more details on this story, see tomorrow's Journal.