Saskatchewan River Delta

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Gabriela Garcia-Luna, “Traces I,” 2019

archival ink on rag paper, 30” x 94” (detail)

The Saskatchewan River Delta, one of the largest inland river deltas in North America, is a far cry from the flat, golden wheat fields that blanket Saskatchewan in the popular imagination.

It's the inspiration for eight new pieces by Mexican-born artist Gabriela Garcia-Luna, who documents the delta’s solitude, rich biodiversity and ecological fragility in digital photographs, prints on rag paper, wooden sculptures, video and sound.

The explosion of different media and formats in Edge, on view at the Art Gallery of Regina until July 3, is a departure from the artist’s usual photo collages, although reverent encounters with nature remain the impetus for her work. In the past, she has worked with images of sacred sites in India, little oases of natural beauty within the bustle.

The delta, which straddles the border between Saskatchewan and Manitoba, is primarily fed by the Saskatchewan River, with a drainage basin that extends to the eastern slopes of the Rockies and terminates in Manitoba’s Cedar Lake. It’s composed of various wetlands surrounded by forested levees.

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Gabriela Garcia-Luna, “Structure for Emptiness,” 2019

reclaimed construction materials, 10’ x 15’ (detail of installation)

Visiting the area made Garcia-Luna, who is based in Saskatoon, acutely aware of the environmental consequences of human consumption. For instance, she is passionate about rescued wood. “These are all trees,” she says, pointing to two works, Affinity and Structure for Emptiness.

The latter, an assemblage of lumber that was bound for the landfill, groups timbers so their varying heights resemble a city skyline. In contrast, Affinity, a circular pile of twigs pruned from ornamental trees, appears diminutive and delicate. Garcia-Luna encircled each smooth-barked twig – “so perfect and beautiful,” she says – with a slim, softly glinting band of gold leaf in a bid to elevate the value of these landscaping rejects.

Large prints on rag paper, Traces I and Traces II, are tacked to wooden pallets – more trees turned into disposable junk. These constellations of delicate plants in cool violets and succulent greens are book-ended by jewel-like photographs of flowers and ferns.

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Gabriela Garcia-Luna, “Altered,” 2019

archival ink on rag paper, 30” x 94”

The biggest threat to the delta is not deforestation but hydroelectricity. Altered is a definitive change in tone from the rapturous meditations on precious details elsewhere in the gallery. A composite image of the shoreline, it is marred by streaks that stretch the river’s edge into sharp peaks and valleys. The piece evokes sudden fluctuations in water level caused by the E.B. Campbell Dam upstream near Carrot River, Sask. It’s reminiscent of a heart-rate monitor's jagged line.

While Garcia-Luna’s work bursts with empathy for nature in the face of its callous exploitation by Western consumer culture, she is wary of romanticizing the natural world. The sound work she created for the show is the opposite of the nature soundscapes engineered for relaxation and dispels romanticism with its escalating sharp drone.

Nature is not silent or peaceful. It is a busy, buzzing place. Similarly, Edge is not shrill but  insistent, urging us to pay attention. ■

Edge is on view at the Art Gallery of Regina from May 14 to July 3, 2019.