Dam Illecillewaet
Parallel Exhibit - Centre 64
Acrylic, Watercolour on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas
16" h x 16" w
Artist: Beth Gallup
"A little old man told Giant,” Why not use your size and strength and, with one sweep of your arm, block the river from flowing?” Nasuʔkin Joe Pierre telling the Ktunaxa Creation Story It seems quite possible to me that, now, we are Giant, the chief animal in the creation story. Across the Kootenays, we’ve used our size and strength to block the flow of water. We’ve swept our industrial arms across the rivers and tributaries of the mighty Columbia. The land is marked with dams, like the two I’ve chosen to depict in paint. Both were early efforts to capture the energy of the water. Both are disappearing as erosion decommissions the wood (Illecillewaet) and earthern (Spillimacheen) structures. I find their gradually disappearance somehow hopeful."