Since 1975, Linda Covit has created numerous art interventions presented in Canada and abroad. Her artworks address issues of nature, the environment, and peace. Water Garden, integrated with the Water Centre building in Calgary, and Shangri La Stripe Room, at the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas, are among her most recent creations.
Artwork description
Monumental at 13 m high and 16 m in diameter, this curving structure brings the immensity of the site to human scale. Rectangular tubes overlap and weave rhythmically, positioned to create three openings. The structure evokes the image of two clasped hands and a sense of support. The interlaced “fingers” suggest the members of the hospital staff; they join together as do the medical teams dedicated to the health of each of their patients. In daytime, the natural light creates shadow patterns across the artwork, ever-changing through the hours, days and seasons. At night, shades of blue and blue-green bathe the work in colours evocative of sky and water, elements essential to life. This contemporary artistic approach constitutes a welcoming attitude towards the community, inviting patients, visitors and staff members to come in to the artwork, and to the hospital complex.