In my exhibition “Stars are Suns”, I utilized images of hearts, caduceus, cowry shells, and repeat these to create star-shaped neckpieces called “Charms”. Stars and charms are both universal signs for hope and usually gendered female. The “Sun Bowls” reference cooking cauldrons, crucibles and celestial bodies. The sun in most cultures is gendered male and stars female. The title of the show refers to the irony: the scientific truth that stars are indeed suns, each at the centre of its own solar system. This work is a metaphor for my search in questioning the social constructs in our culture.

Solo Exhibition, Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS, 1997

Exhibition essay by Barbara Lounder