Brief Candle in the Wind, 2024

Installation

The summer of 2024 saw over 50 traffic fatalities in British Columbia. Images of young adults killed in vehicle accidents in BC from 2022-2024, collected from online news stories and GoFund Me pages, were transferred onto thrift store clothing using acrylic medium and photocopies. Placed onto roadside memorial-like stands which were configured into an “intersection” on the campus of Kwantlen Polytechnique University, viewers were lead through the exhibit. The real images; the ages of the victims; the worn clothing; and the location suggesting where these individuals should be right now, along with a QR code on two memorials linking to news reports, brings emotion to the conversation of road safety. The title also leans into the song by Elton John who re-wrote it for Princess Diana, also killed in a car crash.