Contractual
Markham Museum - “Farm to table” Harvest Table
TRISKELION- Carved Granite - (Commission)
“BEES MATTER”
Art installations in a field
My focus as an Inter-Disciplinary Artist specifically pertains to symbols I create as representations of key environmental concerns, with a focus on Food Sovereignty.
Symbols have the power to change the way we perceive the environment around us: they speak a universal language. By highlighting large scale symbolic images in outdoor environs, my work serves to empower the individual to take a stand based on their personal beliefs. It is inspiring for me to work with the local community on these projects.
Limited Edition Giclée Print
Printed On Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bamboo: Vegan Paper
Edition of 50
Available in the following sizes:
12.16" x 15" / 19.5” x 24” / 29” x 36”
+shipping
The plight of the bee is well documented with various theories as to their rapid decline such as parasites and chemical pesticides and herbicides that weaken the immune system of the bee.
My purpose in producing this drawing is to heighten public awareness to both wild and domesticated bees that are in serious peril. All of my images in the field are drawn with a push lawn mower and a trimmer. Michael Robertson of High Perspective Hang Gliding provides a section of his well-manicured field in Brougham, Ontario for my drawings.
Bumble Bee -Bombus griseocollus (80 metres) 2018
The Process
Once I have established a design in my studio, a secondary overlay is made indicating a series of dots that will serve for the GPS in the field. The drawing is transferred to a CAD drawing and downloaded onto a GPS.
Volunteers in the field with the GPS unit
Volunteer in the field numbering and hammering pegs into the grass
In the field a center point is chosen, and two points established as gradients from which to lay out the entire drawing, using pegs which are numbered and hammered into the ground, based on the information coming through the GPS. Once the pegs are established, this is where the lawn mower and trimmer come in.
Volunteers In Field
The Use of a Drone
Once the drawing is established in the field a Drone is utilized to collect a series of photographs and video material for social media purposes. The Drone plays a critical role, digitally documenting both photographic and video images from limitless vantage points. My Drone operator for the Bumble Bee was Matt Lehman.
Volunteer Support for Bees Matter :
Sebastian Rigby-Templer - Artist/Installer
Patrick-Alexan - Digital Designer/Environmentalist
Michael Robertson - High Perspective Hang Gliding
Matt Lehman - Drone Operator Extraordinaire
Jason Campbell - Surveyor
Ron Dawe - Long-time stalwart Volunteer
“No Fly Zone”
"No Fly Zone" was created by Heather in the summer of 2015 as part of the Dinner Plate Project she began in 2010 (more on this project below). "No Fly Zone" refers to 18,600 acres of land in North Pickering that was expropriated by the federal government in 1972 for an airport that was never built. Almost half a century later, the site is still on hold for a possible future airport, despite strong and constant opposition, led originally by People or Planes and since 2005 by Land Over Landings.
In 2013, renewed talk of an airport prompted the idea of the "No Fly Zone" drawing. Two years later, farmer Ron Tapscott (the only original farmer remaining on the government land, albeit as a tenant on what was once his family's own property) and a group of other Pickering residents and Land Over Landings supporters volunteered to help transform the paper drawing into a field drawing.
Volunteers include Farmers’ Bobbie and Ron Tapscott (right)2013
Joe Bezubiak on the tractor 2013
“Eat Local”
In Heather's earlier works, a 24" x 30" drawing would be simply scaled, and amplified in the field at a much larger scale. She would use pegs to mark the specific areas as outlined in the drawing, and run cords from certain points to help guide her drawing with a lawn mower. Reliance on her original drawing on paper was a valued reference throughout the entire process. The early works were first documented from a hang glider by a professional photographer flying tandem with Mike "the Kite" Robertson of High Perspective Hang Gliding in Brougham, North Pickering, ON. As shown on the home page, a drone has since replaced the hand glider. The "Eat Local" field drawing was created with a push lawnmower in a farmer's field on part of Mike Robertson's flying field.
High Perspective Hang Gliding
Heather Rigby is available upon request to design and or replicate a design, and create it as a field drawing in any size for Business or NGO needs. Various prints of the field drawings are available for SALE: please request a price list.