(Coyote) koyo-te, through the bog (2020)

Nancy Chew , Jacqueline Metz

23100 Garripie Ave

Area: Hamilton
Location: In front of development.

Materials: Pre-cast concrete: Ductal UHPC and Bronze with black patina

Program: Private
Ownership: Private
Sponsored By: Oris Consulting Ltd.

Description of Work

A finely detailed plinth suggests packing crates crafted from cast glass-fibre reinforced concrete, Ductal. The cast will be finely textured – it will show the grain of the wood and markings on the crates. The significance of this prosaic element is heightened by attention to detail and a formality of arrangement and siting.

Standing atop this pile of crates is the totemic figure of coyote, the strong bronze form is slightly larger than life-size and abstracted by faceting. The crate is stamped with the Japanese symbol for ‘coyote’:

Artist Statement

koyo-te, through the bog is an enigmatic assemblage of elements that reference the local ecological and cultural history of the site that includes thousands of years of food gathering and farming.

A finely detailed plinth suggests weathered wooden crates, such as those that may have been used for storing cranberries, perhaps by Japanese settlers at one time. Set atop is the sculptural bronze form of a coyote, still and watchful, and located slightly above the eye level of passers-by. The animal is at home here, in this neighbourhood, moving between the lush landscape of the bog and the river, almost invisibly interwoven with our lives.