Capitol

Capitol is excerpted from a larger body of work entitled Sentinels ....the notion of the measure.  The central work in this series was a large scale silk-screen of the façade of the Department of Household Science building (the corner of University and Bloor St. in Toronto). This building was chosen for its history.. as it is the first building where women were taught at the University of Toronto, and for its neo-classical façade and the details. The promise held in this architecture was stability, substance, citizenship and value. Ideas of illusion, fragility and decay are explored in this body of work. The façade was rendered utilizing a photograph which Stewart blew up an then screened in parts onto organza. Each piece was then sewn back together to reconstruct the building’s facade in a large scale. The final size being 13' x 14'. There was a second identical cloth created which hung directly behind the first leaving a small space of approximately 6-9" between them. The massive work then cascaded purposefully onto the floor pooling in its excess. The effect created by the image, the materials and double layering created an illusion of volume, a 3D effect and tension between the ephemeral and the physical building.

Capital was constructed similarly only rather than layering the images, the rendered image was folded in on itself creating a diptych.  The soft central fold accentuated its sexual and female nature.