A new installation created by Kelowna artist Crystal Przybille will grab travellers’ attention as they make their way towards the departure gates at Kelowna’s International Airport.
Reminiscent of two giant bird wings, and made from wood and metal, the piece entitled Wish is intended to make reference to the human longing for and efforts toward flight. It makes specific visual reference to ornithopters, that is, the early mechanical inventions based on bird wings that were intended to enable people to fly. The artist has also drawn upon her recent experience attending a First Nations’ brushing ceremony that included the use of eagle wings. Przybille has stated that she would like Wish to convey “the transformative power of intention, belief, and will.”
A central trailing red ribbon will connect the two wing components. The wooden feather-shaped units will be stained with earth, iron dust, and other natural substances.
Crystal Przybille is a painter and sculptor who received her BFA from the University of Victoria via Okanagan University College in Kelowna in 1997. She has several successful public art commissions to her credit, including a large bronze statue of Father Pandosy (located at the Pandosy Mission historical site in Kelowna), and an outdoor, multi-site, multi-piece work titled The Hands of Time, commemorating the sesquicentennial of the City of Victoria. She is currently working on a sculptural commission for Westbank First Nation depicting Chief Sookinchute, who was a contemporary of Father Pandosy.
Crystal Przybille: Wish will be on view from May 5 to Nov. 3, 2014, at the Kelowna Art Gallery’s satellite space in the well-wishing area of the departures wing at the Kelowna International Airport.
For more information about current exhibitions, public programming or special events, please visit the Kelowna Art Gallery online at www.kelownaartgallery.com.
