A Sobering Thought

August 2017 - Toronto ON


Last summer I had followed The TELUS Health Brain Project.

Click here for a recap of the brains I found in 2016 TOTAL 51

Toronto is gearing up for a second year of raising awareness with over 100 new one-of-a-kind brain creations by local and international artists with a focus on bolder designs in their medium of choice.

I have taken the descriptions from the Telus website.

Total by visit

Jogging Memories - Union Station   Total 9
Penny for your Thoughts - FCP        Total 5
Sony Centre for the Arts                   Total 1
Lost in Thought - City Hall               Total 15
Thoughtless - Yorkville                     Total 3
City Hall                                            Total 4
Give Some Thought to MaRS           Total 2
Brookfield                                          Total 3
Bay-Adelaide Centre                         Total 2
A Sobering Thought Distillery          Total 9

2017 TOTAL TO DATE - 53

These were found in the Distillery District, a vibrant revitalized area of shops and restaurants.


Food for Thought
The connection between a healthy diet and our brain health is the concept behind Cindy Scaife’s artwork. Foods rich in omega-3 fats, vitamin B and other nutrients greatly contribute to the overall health of our brains. As her artwork often focuses on the history of food items, she saw this topic as a perfect fit with her anthropomorphic style. The "super food" broccoli is joined by avocado, walnut and others for a day out.

Back then…
Artist Sandra Brewster remembers being very young on Dunsfold Drive, playing in the streets with the other neighbourhood kids. They stayed out there until the sun fell. She remembers making angels in the mound of snow at the front of her house and her Mom hollering at them to "Hurry, inside!" This was a very long time ago.

Not Forgotten
Through a collage of fabric, embellished with hand embroidery, lace and trim, neuro artist Laura Bundesen explores the brain’s functions through colour, form and texture, including two distinctly different hemispheres. This piece is in loving memory of her stepmother who suffered from dementia and didn’t recognize her the last time they met, but said “Laura… that’s one of my favourite names.” Somehow, somewhere inside, she had not forgotten.

Brain Code
This is Brain Code.

Red Head
Canadian artist Anitra Hamilton used chicken eggshells, glue, acrylic paint and varnish in creating her piece Red Head for the Brain Project.

Black hole memory
Artist Stéphane Langlois has created a brain in aluminum with some holes through the brain. Some parts are polished and some parts have a patina like rust. Over the years, the patina will continue to generate over all the areas and become – comparable to Alzheimer’s and dementia – a progressive degenerative disease of the brain, in which thinking and memory become seriously impaired.

Loss
Artist Keight MacLean’s brain sculpture explores the idea of memory and memory loss through the portrait of a loved one. On one side of the brain is a portrait of a young woman, her face slightly obscured by drips of paint. On the reverse side, the portrait begins to slightly warp as more of the woman is obscured by paint and dirt.

Raining Cows, “BLUE SUN”
The artist’s life came to a screeching halt after the tragic and violent death of his brother and best friend. Everything positive and creative was replaced by darkness. His world was upside down. He was extremely depressed. He thought there was no hope. One day he took an old canvas from his closet and started painting these "Raining Cows." After he started, he could not stop. He created this imaginary world to cope with reality. He painted these floating creatures to help him with the traumatic experiences he has had. It is therapy for him. It is his outlet. The "Raining Cows" encourage and motivate him to keep going regardless of what happened in his past. The Sun is still Blue but soon it will rise and the fire in him will blaze red once again.

Right and Left Hemisphere
Daniel St-Amant’s sculpture is a representation of the two sides of our brain. The right side is used for recognizing faces, visual imagery, colour and music. People sometimes call it the right hemisphere or The Creative Brain. St-Amant presents it as a lush meadow with trees and grass.
The left hemisphere is known as The Logical Brain. It is responsible for logic, numbers, words, lists and analysis, and represented by construction, civilization and development. St-Amant hopes to remind people that we must keep a healthy balance between the two in life and in spirit.