Fern Helfand
Satellite Space at the Kelowna International Airport
August 2018 to February 2019
Fern Helfand, Okanagan Log Pile (detail), 2018. Photo montage on Sintra board. Collection of the artist.
Okanagan Log Pile embodies the duplicity of forestry in British Columbia. While it represents the province’s forests as a potentially renewable resource, and the lumber industry as a major economic driver, it also speaks to clear cutting and the loss of the forest. The piled logs recall the transformation of forest valley and hills—traditional home to Indigenous peoples—to lands cleared for urban development.
Fern Helfand received an MFA from the University of Florida and has since held teaching positions at University of Western Ontario, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang and the University of British Columbia. Her photo-based work addressing environmental concerns and the medium of photography itself has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. She currently resides in Kelowna.
