Living in Toronto I feel disconnected from the land; sometimes I don’t even feel like there IS land in Toronto.  The shoemaking methodology I used to make these boots challenged me to notice and engage with the land. I visited sites that sparked a memory from a certain period in my life: childhood, adolescence, the hospital where my child was born.  I used my Materials Exchange Ritual to gather materials at each site.

01_Elinor Whidden_Toronto Boots

Material Archive & Research - Me [Toronto Boots]

Pigeon Feather

RIGHT BOOT DETAIL - 87 Wade Ave, my old studio, Go Train corridor

Red Balloon

RIGHT HEEL PULL - Alley behind my childhood home

White Workglove

RIGHT TOE CAP - Wade Ave, duck territory, site of gentrification

Inflatable Pizza Mattress

RIGHT + LEFT FRONT QUARTERS - Don Valley trail, family bike rides

Ancestors

TERRITORY

My Land Acknowledgment

A Shameful Discovery