Présences du littéraire dans l’espace public canadien

"I chose black granite as the material for this work because of its colour and reflective quality. Using a portrait format measuring 2 feet by 4 feet, its placement is 1 inch above the gallery floor so as to give the illusion of the stone floating. Cut into the polished surface, the word ‘stillness,’ divided below the level of syllables, is done so to suggest layers. It requires one to slow down when attempting to sound the word. The gold and silver circles above and below the letters symbolize the dualism found in nature. The use of the word ‘stillness’ here does not mean motionless, rather it includes motion. Where stillness includes motion, there exists a repose that is an inner concentration of motion. The colouration of black granite gives a sense of depth and suggests concealment. The gravity of the stone comes to bear and rest, and pulls one towards earth’s solidity. When I speak of earth, I am referring to what is natural to earth, not the world as defined by culture and human action. All things of earth, and earth itself as a whole, flow together into a reciprocal accord. Earth is present as the sheltering agent that nourishes and protects in this unanimity. It unfolds itself in an inexhaustible multiplicity of modes and shapes. Each of its elements holds a deep level of intimacy known in the earth’s timelessness. This intimacy is the result of opposing elements letting go into a simple belonging to one another. The earth reveals a capacity and endurance reflected in its ongoing reconciliation of the heterogeneous forces within. Stillness is where differences rest in unity."

© J. Lynn Campbell, 1996

Exhibition essay, In Absentia by Catherine Elliot Shaw, curator. Situating the Body, McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, London, 2008