Secwépemc artist Tania Willard approaches the space below the highway as a tree canopy, reminiscent of the “understory” floor of southern Ontario forests, where pockets of shade and sunlight shape unique ecosystems below. In a stunning mixed-media installation, floral motifs, iridescence, and powerful slogans offer a mediation on the power of shade as a lifeforce.
By Tania Willard
Co-commissioned by The Bentway and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA)
Nestled under the Gardiner Expressway and tracing the original shoreline of Lake Ontario is Bentway Staging Grounds, a unique public space (temporary, for now) designed to centre environmental regeneration. Since opening in 2023, the site has reintroduced features of pre-industrial wetlands in the CityPlace neighbourhood by planting shade- and salt-tolerant native gardens, all living and growing within the shadow cast by the concrete infrastructure above.
Responding to this evolving ecosystem, artist Tania Willard (Secwepemcúl’ecw, BC) celebrates the potential of shade through the creation of a multifaceted, living artwork. Declaration of the Understory takes its name from the document issued by Secwépemc Kukpi7 Chiefs and Councillors in response to concerns over understory plant recovery following major wildfires near the artist’s home in the British Columbia interior. Here, below the Gardiner, Willard builds on this call to action by reimagining the highway as a tree canopy, reminiscent of the Carolinian forests in southern Ontario where pockets of shade and sunlight shape unique ecosystems below.
At the centre of the installation is the hepatica, or liverleaf, an early spring wildflower that thrives in shaded conditions and covers eastern woodland floors with its vibrant purple colour. Referencing the pathways of hepatica flowers that burst up from the understory during the change of seasons, floral motifs in Willard’s artwork activate the architecture of the highway as an imagined rewilding of public space, proposing a renewing of relations with the lands, urban ecologies, and Indigenous communities.
No system like the ecosystem.
Excerpt from the artwork
Shining a light on what thrives in the shade through the use of reflective and iridescent materials, a series of slogans from the perspective of the plant world stretch across banners and bents, celebrating interconnectedness and Indigenous knowledge. Declaration of the Understory offers a mediation on the power of shade, reminding us of its potential as a life force for new growth.
collaborators
project team
Engineering: Blackwell
Fabrication: Beyond Digital Imaging, Specialized Scaffold Services, TheGobo.com, Toronto Plant Market
supporters
Co-commissioned by The Bentway and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA)
Sun-safety partner
David Cornfield Melanoma Fund
Supported by
Balsam Foundation
City of Toronto
TD Bank Group
and The Bentway’s growing family of friends and supporters
With help from partners at
Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA)
Save Your Skin Foundation
