Christian Cardell Corbet is a painter born in Ajax, Ontario, in 1972. He was appointed artist to H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1995. He studied with Andre Bieler, A.W. Price, and Elizabeth Smily, and at the University of Guelph.
Scope and content
The work, titled "Braille Work Series 1: Women's Monument" by Christian Cardell Corbet, 1997, consists of two glass preserve jars, 14 cm high x 8 cm diameter, each labeled on the jar underside with a manuscript name, containing fragments of Braille work on paper.
Note
The artist stated: "These two pieces are part of a larger set of fourteen. Each jar represents the lives and memories of one of the victims shot during the University of Montreal massacre of December 6, 1989 ... The fragmented Braille represents the broken lives and hopes of the victims. The particles are the memories; the jar preserves them. The Braille, which is a repetitive sequence of each victim's name, is a metaphoric of the darker side of life. It also captures each victim's individuality with respect to the subtle differences in the name patterns."
