Paintings by Margaret Cresswell

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at the Toronto Public Library: Leaside Branch

165 McRae Drive, Toronto, ON, M4G 1S8

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on until March 31st, 2017

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Alzheimer's and dementia have

 led me to explore the uniqueness of one's memories of objects. I use objects from my childhood and have painted these “memories” on steel panels that are treated with chemicals to begin the decaying process and then left to age for several weeks. As the decomposition effects the substructure and paint by way of pure chance, the resulting unpredictable decay is juxtaposed with the controlled process of photo-realistic painting style which can be directly interpreted as the destruction of memory from dementia, Alzheimer’s or substance abuse. Based on my response to each painting’s level of decomposition, some paintings are then transformed by the addition of resin, which arrests the decay, ultimately preserving some memories, while others are left to decompose.