DEBORAH CARRUTHERS
  • Home
    • Artist Statement
    • Bio
  • Exhibitions / Residencies/Performances
    • Exhibitions ... Now You See Me... >
      • What Remains Unexplained 2.0: The Endpoint Collective
      • Beyond the Stone Angel: artists reflect on the death of their parents, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, October 2021- February 2022 >
        • More About ​Safe Passage
        • More About the Paintings ...
      • Announcing the Coming of the Sun, Adjacent to Life Gallery, New York, New York, USA , 2021
      • The Aura of the Already Said - Zygote Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio - 2019
      • Souvenir / Souvenir - Montréal, Québec 2017 >
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Press
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Essay ​Culte du Souvenir
        • Souvenir / Souvenir: About the Exhibition ...
        • Souvenir / Souvenir : Invitation card
    • Performances ... Once Upon a Time ... >
      • Ecstacies of Influence - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre -Montréal - December 2018
      • slippages - The UBC Symphony Orchestra - Chan Centre - Vancouver - October 2018 >
        • slippages - Press
        • slippages - Instructions for play and score
        • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
          • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
          • slippages Immense Immensities
          • slippages Notebook
          • slippages Athabasca Painting
        • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Residencies ... Home Away From Home ... >
      • Ecstasies of Influence : matralab, Concordia University - Montréal 2018 >
        • Ecstacies of Influence - December 16, 2018 - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre - Montréal
      • The Past Sealed Away - Peter Wall Institute Artist in Residence - Vancouver, BC 2017 - 2018 >
        • The Past Sealed Away... Article
      • What's in a Song ? Between the Song and the Silence: Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2017
      • In The Hole - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2017
      • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2016 >
        • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Installation
  • Graphic Scores
    • reading between the lines - 2022
    • safe passage - 2021 >
      • safe passage: Graphic Score for Canoe Installation
    • slippages - 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Between the Song and the Silence: Berlin 2017 - 2021 >
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Studies for Hobrechtsfelde Iteration
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Banff Iteration
      • My Muses
      • What's in a Name?
      • Taking Flight ... The Process
      • Swan Song... A summary of my process for my MFA research
  • Portfolio
    • Mortsaf for My Father : the Series ... >
      • Mortsaf for My Father : the Paintings ...
      • Mortsaf for My Father: ​Safe Passage
    • Allegory for a New Ice Age ... Photographs
    • The Past Sealed Away ... Painting
    • The Past Sealed Away... Prints
    • The Past sealed Away: Athabasca - Photographs
    • Immense Immensities Miniature Watercolours
    • In The Hole
    • Souvenir sacré
    • Souvenir sacré - Opasatika
    • Fleurs sacrées
    • Mortsaf
    • Genetics for Cowboys
    • Beautiful Ghosts
    • Niagara Tondos
    • Twinned
  • C V
  • Contact

Between the Song and the Silence:  What's in a Name?

Picture
Now You See Me ... Giclée on Epson enhanced matte paper, 36" x 24", 2017

​I was
recently asked by a curator about how I title my works. The subject matter of a series typically riffs off of conversations with others, notably my long-suffering partner Francis, about things that I may have seen or heard.  The title for Between the Song and the Silence evolved from discussions at his family cottage in the Laurentians about things no longer seen nor heard.

We all reminisced about what it used to sound like up there, about the complexity of the combined sounds of birds and wildlife. How the bass cacophony of bullfrogs in the evening could keep you from falling asleep, while the howling of the wolves nearby would make you shiver deliciously under the covers. The banshee wailing  of the loons would fade away to be replaced by the dignified hooting of the owls.

It doesn’t sound like that anymore. To hear one bullfrog is cause to “shush” everyone, while the wolves singing at night are remarked upon by all the neighbours, and is something you’d tell the cashier about at the store in town.

Visitors often remark now about the quality of the silence there, about how “beautiful and quiet” it is.

Is It?

I thought about what it would have sounded like in my grandparents’ time, and about the different species that they would have heard, that I would never hear.

How could you describe the call of a bird you’d never heard? If you’d never heard it, could you truly miss it?
What remains between the song and the silence?

I recognized that that phrase between the song and the silence described succinctly  what I wanted to explore, and that here emerged both the topic and the title of a new series.
If an idea can be distilled down to a few words, then it shapes and focuses my research and work, at least initially. 
To hear one bullfrog is cause to “shush” everyone, while the wolves singing at night are remarked upon by all the neighbours, and is something you’d tell the cashier about at the store in town.
​ We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada de son soutien.
Picture
  • Home
    • Artist Statement
    • Bio
  • Exhibitions / Residencies/Performances
    • Exhibitions ... Now You See Me... >
      • What Remains Unexplained 2.0: The Endpoint Collective
      • Beyond the Stone Angel: artists reflect on the death of their parents, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, October 2021- February 2022 >
        • More About ​Safe Passage
        • More About the Paintings ...
      • Announcing the Coming of the Sun, Adjacent to Life Gallery, New York, New York, USA , 2021
      • The Aura of the Already Said - Zygote Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio - 2019
      • Souvenir / Souvenir - Montréal, Québec 2017 >
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Press
        • Souvenir / Souvenir - Essay ​Culte du Souvenir
        • Souvenir / Souvenir: About the Exhibition ...
        • Souvenir / Souvenir : Invitation card
    • Performances ... Once Upon a Time ... >
      • Ecstacies of Influence - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre -Montréal - December 2018
      • slippages - The UBC Symphony Orchestra - Chan Centre - Vancouver - October 2018 >
        • slippages - Press
        • slippages - Instructions for play and score
        • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
          • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
          • slippages Immense Immensities
          • slippages Notebook
          • slippages Athabasca Painting
        • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Residencies ... Home Away From Home ... >
      • Ecstasies of Influence : matralab, Concordia University - Montréal 2018 >
        • Ecstacies of Influence - December 16, 2018 - Le Gesù, Amphithéâtre - Montréal
      • The Past Sealed Away - Peter Wall Institute Artist in Residence - Vancouver, BC 2017 - 2018 >
        • The Past Sealed Away... Article
      • What's in a Song ? Between the Song and the Silence: Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2017
      • In The Hole - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2017
      • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta 2016 >
        • A Ubiquity of Sparrows : Banff Installation
  • Graphic Scores
    • reading between the lines - 2022
    • safe passage - 2021 >
      • safe passage: Graphic Score for Canoe Installation
    • slippages - 2018 >
      • slippages - Press
      • slippages - Instructions for play and score
      • slippages in the Studio: About my process >
        • slippages Athabasca -Photographs
        • slippages Immense Immensities
        • slippages Notebook
        • slippages Athabasca Painting
      • slippages - Performance Videos
    • Between the Song and the Silence: Berlin 2017 - 2021 >
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Studies for Hobrechtsfelde Iteration
      • Between the Song and the Silence: Graphic Score- Banff Iteration
      • My Muses
      • What's in a Name?
      • Taking Flight ... The Process
      • Swan Song... A summary of my process for my MFA research
  • Portfolio
    • Mortsaf for My Father : the Series ... >
      • Mortsaf for My Father : the Paintings ...
      • Mortsaf for My Father: ​Safe Passage
    • Allegory for a New Ice Age ... Photographs
    • The Past Sealed Away ... Painting
    • The Past Sealed Away... Prints
    • The Past sealed Away: Athabasca - Photographs
    • Immense Immensities Miniature Watercolours
    • In The Hole
    • Souvenir sacré
    • Souvenir sacré - Opasatika
    • Fleurs sacrées
    • Mortsaf
    • Genetics for Cowboys
    • Beautiful Ghosts
    • Niagara Tondos
    • Twinned
  • C V
  • Contact