Learn the history behind the 11-panel archival pigment print by Toronto-based artist Suzy Lake.

“I wanted the sense of the rhythm of sweeping, not the figure, to become strong enough that the audience would feel it,” said artist Suzy Lake on her work Rhythm of a True Space #2 (2008-2009). An 11-panel archival pigment print that features Lake gently sweeping rubble on the ground, the work seemingly follows the viewer’s steps as you walk alongside it. For this month’s RBC Art Pick, Foyer dives into the past of the work. It is currently on view at the AGO as part of the exhibition Her Space, which features works representing the interior lives of women – at rest, at work, at play or in a dream state. 

Using photographs taken more than 15 years ago, Rhythm of a True Space #2 belonged to an image-based series Lake began to work with in 1994 titled Re-Reading Recovery (1996). The archival photos showed her sweeping the rubble at the site of a home renovation. Dressed in a thin cotton slip, Lake appears resolute but vulnerable and barefoot. During that time, Lake was particularly interested in exploring the concepts of beauty and the aging body. Lake has said, “Experience is positive; maturity is positive; but our culture doesn’t celebrate these attributes when associated with aging.” Read more in this week’s Foyer, linked HERE.