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West End artist Moneca Sinclaire isn’t a gardener but the unusual and playful kinetic sculptures she has planted on her lawn are as colourful as any flower garden.
Some of them rotate like windmills when a gust of wind catches them or a child spins them, while others resemble large and colourful woollen mandalas with playful pompoms attached.
The overall effect is so eye-catching that I didn’t realize at first glance that the outsized sculptures are all made out of bicycle tire rims bolted to six-feet-or-taller metal posts driven into the lawn.
Making art holds many good memories for Sinclaire and has brought a lot of joy to her life. When she was four or five and living in northern Manitoba, she would watch her Cree grandmother crafting and hear how important it is to use up every last scrap of material to respect Mother Earth.
In her teenage years, she started to make art to heal from the intergenerational trauma passed on by relatives who had been in a residential school. It has been known for many years that art helps people to heal. Famous French painter and sculptor George Braque is often quoted as saying “Art is a wound turned into light.”
After going on to get a PhD in adult education, Sinclaire now works as a health researcher but still makes time for creative projects in the evening. She has never forgotten her grandmother’s teachings so mostly makes sustainable art out of recycled materials.
Bottle caps become jewellery and beaded-style curtains. Cracked dishes are broken to become mosaic pieces. Plastic pop bottles and those plasticized political signs are cut up to become windmill blades.
Her sculptures attract a lot of attention and she is regularly offered bicycle wheels of all sizes. Friends call if they have leftover wool from a knitting or crochet project. And, of course, ArtsJunktion, the downtown depot that accepts donations of recyclable art supplies then offers them to community members on a pay-what-you-can basis, is a mainstay.
In fact, she taught several workshops at ArtsJunktion and hopes to do more teaching in the future when our lives return to normal.
You can view beautiful pictures of her work on her Instagram account @Moneca_Sinclaire, where she has beadwork, art, embroidery, mosaics and sculptures all made out of recycled materials.
Anne Hawe is a community correspondent for the West End. She can be reached at [email protected]
Anne Hawe
Community Correspondent — West End
Anne Hawe is a community correspondent for the West End. She can be reached at [email protected]
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