Inspired by my sailing of the high arctic melting fjords and then my kayaking observations of the Britannia Bay Ottawa River shore.
This video was shown as part of the solo exhibition, In Search of Bearing, at the Corridor 45/75 Gallery Ottawa, October 2022 through March 12, 2023. No sound with emphasis on the dynamic video imagery.
In Search of Bearings – 5-min.37 sec. c. 2022.
Global climate warming impacts include melting freshwater glaciers and raising ocean and river tributary water levels. Coastal community flooding and water corridor navigation create psychosocial uncertainty about the place and its future direction.
Freshwater to Saltwater – 37 sec. c.2021.
Inspired by my Arctic Circle 2019 Arts & Sciences Expedition residency, June 9 – 26, Svalbard Archipelago, northernmost Norway, close to the North Pole.
Svalbard, at the northern terminus of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, is heating at 4x the rate of global warming. Melting freshwater valley glaciers contribute to rising ocean levels, which additionally impact their river tributaries.
Sailing the Top of the World, Svalbard June 2019 – 8 min. c.2019.
Pack ice occurs when ice floes come together, creating an expanse of ice, as seen in this video. Many historical expeditions perished when they became stuck in pack ice. My Arctic Circle 2019 Arts & Sciences Expedition residency during June solstice in Svalbard Archipelago managed to find its way out within 24-hours. A lookout from the Owls Nest relayed directions to the Wheel House to expertly navigate a way out during the June Solstice 2019.
The video Reversal is screened separately, and used as the video element in installations by the same name, Reversal. It is often shown in dialogue with the video Golden Pond.
Rushing glacier water at Banff Alberta was recorded and edited for the evocative movement that references the cycle of life, remembering source and human identity.
Metaphors of compressed and extended time, shifting states of being, memory, and renewal are embedded in both the materiality of the glacier water and the edited mirrored reversal action of the glacier river flow.
Reversal – 11 min. loop c.2013.
Kaleidoscopes of shifting mandala-like designs reference our spiritual connection with the environment.
Camera movement over the vegetated shoreline of the Mississippi River at Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada, is captured and edited into mirroring quadrants to create this effect.
This experimental artwork is categorized as a ‘video object’ because it does not have a linear beginning, middle, or end. The viewer can enter and leave at any point, much like one does with a painting.
Golden Pond has been shown independently and as a video installation element in exhibitions across Canada, Bogota, Columbia, Lahore, Pakistan and Berlin, Germany.
Video still prints are available for purchase under the photography menu.
Golden Pond – 2-10 min. c. 2007.
Lost & Found Innocence explores the idea of letting go as part of the process of reclaiming one’s essential innocence. It was created as an experimental video during an artist residency at Centre de Production Daimon, Gatineau, Quebec.
Hawkins rhythmically montages public media events and personal family film clips as a transparent layer over her climbing performances. Performances include climbing and rolling down two types of hills. The first is the Cold War Diefenbunker site with the War Siren in the background at Carp, Ontario. The second is climbing and rolling down an incline on the edge of the Mississippi River at Carleton Place, Ontario.
Lost and Found Innocence – 4-min.59sec. c. 2000.
Hawkins rhythmically montages everyday technologies of the early millennium. Her voice-over muses on the “consumption of the human spirit by digital technology” and the pervasive rectangular screen’s impact on our sense of who we are.
This video, considered a video poem, has been shown worldwide at international video festivals in Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Ontario, Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Morocco, Africa.
Human Bytes – 1-min.13sec. c. 2000.