For My Mother: A Visual Prayer/ Feast at WARC Gallery (401 Richmond West), to February 15. 416-977-0097. Rating: NNN Rating: NNN
In this installation, winsom again pays homage to her familial and spiritual history. Out of love and respect for her mothers — her physical mother and the mother of the sea, Yamaya — Winsom lays out a bountiful feast on a large table at the Women’s Art Resource Centre. The table, set in blue to mimic the sea, sits stoically. Next to it runs a fabric river, and near its banks sit several bowls in which goldfish swim lazily.
On the walls hang paintings of African mermaids floating among sea waves. A video work brings those swimmers to life in an emotional, honest and powerful tribute to the spirit of the sea.
Winsom’s work offers a profound contrast to the work of so many artists who cast sincerity and reverence aside in favour of cynicism, cleverness, novelty and shock.
