Project description

This project emerged out of the artist’s desire to communicate intimately with others and to talk about our common humanity.

Through the fabrication and display of two sculptures, Patricia Lortie-Sparks explores the dreams/aspirations and the fears of people who have agreed to share them with us by answering the two following questions:

Sculpture #1: What are your dreams or aspirations?

Sculpture #2: What stops you from acting towards your dreams? Or, what did you overcome in order to advance towards your dreams?

The first sculpture honors people’s dreams, small and big.  It is made of a bronze hand open and offering a fire-like ensemble of forged metal ribbons.  On those ribbons are written (in French and English) a collection of dreams from people across Canada.  The open hand allows for the expression of dreams that we often keep buried inside ourselves.  This act of opening up is like permission we give ourselves to express our dreams as well as welcoming those of others.

Here is the list of wishes that where selected to mkae it onto the metal ribbons.  Those 15 phrases represent the essence of all the wishes received:

I wish to feel content, happy and at peace.

Je rêve d’humanisme, de générosité et de compassion.

I wish to be free to help others blossom.

Je rêve de liberté et de voyages et de créativité.

I wish to have time to enjoy life.

Je rêve d’être un bon parent.

I wish  for my children to be happy.

Je rêve d’amour.

I wish to be financially independent.

Je rêve de tisser des liens entre les cultures.

I wish for enlightenment.

Je rêve d’eau potable et de trois repas par jour pour tous.

I wish to make a positive difference in this world.

Je rêve d’une planète en santé.

I wish for health and vitality.

The second sculpture talks about people’s inhibitors.  Things like fears, habits and life situations preventing us from acting towards our dreams.  It is made of a closed bronze hand that is trying to hold on to 19 glass glass objects.  Those objects represent a selection of inhibitors collected from people across Canada.  You can see photos of them on the gallery page of this site.   Here, the closed hand is kept prisoner by its action of holding on and remains unavailable to open up to possibilities.

To have a better idea of what as been identified so far as dreams and inhibitors refer to the page titled “Examples of Answers”.

To share your own dreams and inhibitors with us, please go on the page titled “The Questions”. Note that your answers are received anonymously (your email address will not be transmitted to the recipient) and might be used on this web site or in a future publication.

Exhibit at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

The pieces where unveiled in February 2010 at the Place de la Francophonie,  on Grnad Ville Island, Vancouver, a branch of the cultural Olympics.

The artist was able to observe the impact of the sculptures on the public and is very happy to say that the work does reach people.  They identified with it on a personal, often intimate level and where able to open up to the artist.  Patricia cherish the memory of many intimate conversations with complete strangers who’s names she will never know.  Strangers who recognize in this project our share humanity and our struggle to become who we wish to be in spite of our busy lives and ingrained patterns.

A big thank you to all the people that are helping with this project: Doug Newell with the blacksmithing work,  , Connie Geerts with the glass work, Gisèle Villeneuve with French corrections, Sylivia Harrill with English corrections, Katie Ohe with concept work, Emmanuel at La Fonderie d’Art d’inverness with bronze work, Shirley Der at FOAM WORKS INC.  with foam work, Diane DeHeker with media connection work, All of my wonderful friends who have put up with giving me feed back on this project for many months and who are always doing it with a smile on their face. My mom who gave a month of her time to help me with the work and running the house. My husband who trusts me and gives me all the freedom I need to get the job done well.