Growing Going Gone at MHC Gallery

About the Exhibition Growing Going Gone:
Growing, Going, Gone memorializes the abrupt ending of the one-hundred-year-old tropical jungle at the Conservatory in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park. In this series of work, Cornelius addresses the larger human experience of grief, sadness, and loss. The pieces also focus our attention on the continued destruction of trees and forests locally, nationally and internationally. 

Cornelius experienced an idyllic childhood growing up in the tropical rainforest of the Congo, where she developed a strong connection to the jungle environment. Unfortunately, this magical childhood was interrupted by political instability.

“My strong memories of lush jungle vegetation from my childhood made the Assiniboine Park Conservatory a happy place and a place of peaceful renewal.”
- Karen Cornelius

After learning that the Conservatory was going to be torn down, Cornelius spent many weeks documenting the vegetation in her sketchbooks and even at times drew directly onto copper plates that she later electro etched at Martha Street Studio. The body of work Growing Going Gone was created from the loss of this special space.

These works memorialise the jungle garden at the Conservatory.

“I made many drawings on paper and directly onto my copper plates while sitting on one of the benches in the Conservatory. I took the copper plates back to the Martha Street Studio where I applied an experimental electro-etching process to simultaneously alter both the negative and positive plates using electricity, water and sulphate. 

The positive plate produces a nuanced, tonally rich commemorative image while the negative plate presents a slightly out of focus, dark, brooding alteration of the image mirroring a sense of vulnerability, grief, and loss.

I marked and stained the rag paper with the life-juice of plants and integrated yellow and lilac Japanese paper reflecting the colour of bruising. I allowed the positive plate to speak to what was and the negative plate to represent the destruction of this place, while I drew into the paper to express my emotional connection to this place as I processed the finality of loss.”

- Karen Cornelius

These works depict Karen’s childhood in the jungle of the Congo.

Growing Going Gone can be viewed at the MHC Gallery at 600 Shaftesbury Blvd in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The show runs from September 17 - November 13th, 2021.

Gallery hours are the following:
Monday - Friday: 830-430
Saturday: 1200-500
Closed Sundays