Check out this new public art installation at SkyTrain’s Lafarge Lake–Douglas Station
Check out this new public art installation at SkyTrain’s Lafarge Lake–Douglas Station
Transit riders going in and out of Millennium Line’s Lafarge Lake–Douglas Station are greeted by a row of photographs spotlighting the forest. Created by artist Sarah Anne Johnson, this eight-image series titled Woodland shines light on the essence of a living, breathing forest.
Woodland is one of 27 Capture Photography Festival exhibitions in 2024 produced in partnership with Art Gallery Evergreen | Evergreen Cultural Centre. It’s on view at the station from now until March 2025.
About Woodland
As the saying goes, “there’s more than meets the eye.” So, Johnson in her artistic way, brought the ‘more’ of the forest to life by transforming photographs into images that reflect her personal experience with the forest.
She uses Photoshop, paint, metal leaf, holographic tape, and photo-spotting ink to add whimsical elements to photos she’s taken of forests around her home in Manitoba.
In transforming these photographs, Johnson was inspired by studying the intelligence of trees. Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island have known the wisdom of nature and the interconnectedness of ecosystems since time immemorial. Her unique style of gathering inspiration is now embraced by Western scientific research and many other eco-centric practices found around the world, like “forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere,” a mindfulness practice that emerged in Japan.
Woodland is also a work that consists of eight images that are “idyllic, whimsical, and psychedelic”, which trace the four seasons. Sacred architecture, trees, and her spiritual connection to the forest continue to inspire her work.
In addition to her inspiration, she uses tools like Photoshop, paint, metal leaf, holographic tape, and photo-spotting ink to further transform photographs into artistical images that reflect her experience with the landscape honestly. Her method of photographic approach stands out and reveals the “magic inherent” in the forests across Indigenous lands.
You can find more art around our transit system. Check out this public art map and have a look at art installations near you.
