If there is a perfectly Canadian material that an artist can use to capture that wild moment when a Canadian goose fought against a vicious attack of a bald eagle, it could be ice.
“As strong as ice is, as heavy as it is and as dangerous as it can be, it is also really fragile,” said Toronto artist Sarah Bloshein. “If you don’t have the right conditions … it simply melts, breaks or disappears.”
Blostein said that Oakville’s photos, Ontario, photographer Mervyn Sequeira sent the message of “strength and resistance” that he needed in the midst of “such depressing news” to create a unique piece: an ice sculpture inspired by the images of Sequeira.
When he spoke with CBC Hamilton, Sequeira said that although he does not like to enter politics, he found the encounter between the two “very symbolic” birds.
Since becoming president again last November, Trump has repeatedly commented on wanting Canada to become the state 51, and has imposed strong steel, aluminum and other products that enter the United States from Canada. Canada has responded with own tariffs.
Blostein said that from the moment the idea of ice art occurred to him, he wanted it to be a project of two people, with an American sculpting the national bird of the United States. Then Blostein recruited his colleague, Riley Knaus, to complete the piece with her.
‘Crazy geese pulling the ninja movements’
Informed for the first time by CBC Hamilton, the story that includes the photos of the Eagle Canada’s fight was covered by the media around the world.
Sequeira originally published the photos on his Instagram account on February 25, telling CBC Hamilton a few days after, from his perspective, “this is how nature works.”
“But we are living in a slightly polarized world at this time, so some people looked at him differently,” he said.
He said that the Eagle made “several attempts” to attack goose in the sports port of Lasalle.
“When we thought he had really ended for the goose, strangely, the Eagle Calva simply surrendered and left.”
Blostein said he found the “fun” photos and that “they looked like a cartoon of political satire.”
“I’ve never seen a Canadian goose like a complete ‘ninja’, and that’s the good thing about that,” he said.
Blostein was the only Canadian in his group when he saw the photos and said that his American colleagues often made fun of her about the idea that Canada became the state 51.
Blostein said the images evoked a “feeling of the ’51th state, my butt ‘,” inspiring her to leave her mark and show “Americans do not know what they are in if they try [annex Canada]”
“We are proud of everything that makes us Canadians and we could be crazy geese pulling ninja movements,” he said.
A cross -border collaboration
Blostein said she is “obsessed with Halloween”, which led her to the size of pumpkin and, finally, to the ice sculpture.
He arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, in January to be voluntary in the World Ice Art Championship with only a three -day sculpture class in his credit. He participated in a contest, but it wasn’t until he was helping with children’s competition that saw additional ice pieces and thought the goose.
Knaus listened to Bloshein to talk about the photos for “a few hours” before looking closely at the interaction between the two birds. The photos “spoke to him” and, therefore, accepted the collaboration.
“We weren’t carving [the same piece] Together, but we were able to create a finished piece together, “Hamilton told CBC.
Knaus, 22, is a Coos Bay headquarters artist, Oregon. This was his third year in the ICE championship in Alaska.
He said that the tense relations between the United States and the United States were not in their mind until the Eagle Calva ended up carving.
“You begin to see the general panorama instead of being marked so much … it almost becomes metaphorical at that time,” he said.
“Because I was focused on my side, what was happening was not very worried [on with Blostein]”
Knaus and Blostein ended up choosing different images of the Sequeira photo session for reference. Blostein was for the “dynamic” goose pose in the most recognizable image, while Knaus was for a more reserved pose for the eagle.
Knaus said he liked the expression of the “bewildered” eagle sensation in one of the photos and thought it would be better to give more attention to goose.
“I felt more towards the emotion of goose more than the eagle at that time,” he said.
Knaus said Canadians are “beautiful people” who should be “fighting for what you believe.”
He said that carving the sculpture was also a good opportunity for young people to see other artists in action, “instead of simply taking some advice.”
Blostein and Knaus wanted to name the piece of Honk, mother, do you speak? as a wink to the Samuel L. Jackson line of 1994 Pulp fiction, But he chose the work of more friendly birds for the family, since they were helping in children’s competition.
“Seeing that image, which was both nature and art, through the photographer’s eyes, and to be able to amplify that with another art form, there is something really special for me,” said Blostein.
