Gwen MacGregor: Treelines – Here and There

Exhibition Details

Treelines -Here and there is a new body of work that explores the connections between logging, alienation from the land and representations of the land. The source of the project is an intersection of a number of MacGregor’s interests. The first, her lifelong endeavor to spend time in uninhabited places and old growth forests while recognizing on Turtle Island, she is a settler on stolen land. The second connects to her maternal grandfather, a Scottish immigrant who made a life for himself in the interior of BC. He had logging rights and a lumber yard developed post WWII. Although he made his living from logging he also had concerns about the way the industry was developing, with the increased use of clearcutting. As a response he donated some of his logging rights to the town of Fernie. The land was turned into a conservation area and remains one of the few parts of the valley that has never been logged. The knowledge of his contradictory relationship to logging led MacGregor to start the Treelines project in Fernie and the highlands of Scotland – both places having experienced extensive logging over different time periods. 

The exhibition at Nickle Galleries includes over 40 three dimensional crocheted trees of specific species that grow in BC and the highlands of Scotland. As well as realistic looking trees, there are a series made out of recycled plastic bags, intentionally dystopic in character. Accompanying the trees are a series of large scale photos and videos of the crocheted trees placed in situ in both places. When placed on the land and documented, the wee trees come across a bit whimsical and sad. But then that seems appropriate for this time of environmental crisis. 

Gwen MacGregor is a Toronto-based artist working in installation, video, photography and drawing with deep ties to the Crowsnest Pass. She has an Honours BA from York University, a Master’s in Cultural Geography from The University of Toronto and is continuing on to pursue a PhD in Cultural Geography.

Curated by Michele Hardy, organized by Nickle Galleries. 

Listen to Gwen MacGregor’s Nickle at Noon talk, Earthlings (recorded, October 8, 2020), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvCdmtvNrI&t=26s