Curating a Summerhill Family Home
An in-depth look at how we worked with our clients to curate an art collection around their interests.
We’re excited to share a deep dive into the curation process behind our recent Summerhill, Toronto project. The clients were interested in landscape photography and artists who use unexpected materials and processes. We used these concepts to build an art collection that felt cohesive and individualized.
The collection is anchored by photographers who highlight the beauty and importance of nature. The methods of photography are innovative and experimental, as the artists take the viewer along in their process by revealing the materials, layers and structures behind the work.
Ingrid Weyland
Ingrid Weyland takes captivating landscape photographs and adds surreal atmospheric effects by intervening in the printing process. She prints two copies of the photograph, before crumpling one of the prints by hand and digitally superimposing it on the original image to form a layered composition. By irreversibly changing the image through her own actions, the artist reminds us of the importance of being mindful of our impact on the land.
Ed Burtynsky
The collection features two works by photographer Ed Burtynsky, who has spent decades exploring how nature is transformed through industry. One of the photographs is an aerial view from a project undertaken over seven years across the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The project explores themes of extraction, agriculture, and urbanization. Burtynsky has perfected the aerial photograph by chartering planes above remote locations to achieve images that are rich in detail, vast in scale, and verge on painterly abstraction. The second image takes a completely different approach, moving away from vast landscapes to an intimate, close-up perspective. The work is from a series he made capturing old growth forests on Vancouver Island. He emphasizes the lush green flora to signify the hope of preserving untouched landscapes.
Jocelyn Alloucherie
Jocelyne Alloucherie is interested in how photography and sculpture can integrate with its surrounding architecture. In this work, she begins by photographing an evocative light-filled sky. She then intervenes in the photograph by using sand with painterly gestures to enhance the atmospheric qualities of the image. The final product is a scan of this mixed-media, so that the surface appears rough at first glance, but smooth when you look closely. The photographic print sits in a light wood structure that becomes part of the composition - reminding the viewer of a horizon line.
These themes set the tone for how art integrates with the design and architecture of the home. Other artists working in photography, painting, and mixed media round out the collection. Visit our Project Page to see more.