Public work headed for Kamloops
Official opening of commissioned sculpture planned for February
A sculpture by artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas that recreates the moment before the North and South Thompson join and become the single Thompson River was put together and raised for the first time Wednesday at a metal fabricating plant in Delta.
Called Rivers, the soaring steel and aluminum sculpture commissioned by the City of Kamloops is more than 10 metres tall. At the top, representing the two arms of the river, are stylized female swimmers in copper leaf.
In front and below, curving metal flows like the water in the rivers. The work’s dominant browns and blues represent the colours of the two rivers before they meet to become one and flow west to eventually join the Fraser River.
Fabricated by Brenco Industries, the sculpture will be erected in Riverside Park at a spot where people can see the confluence of the two rivers. The official opening is planned for February.
“It is a sweet location,” Yahgulanaas said in an interview at Brenco.
“It’s about trying to find that moment just before the two rivers meet — that sense of anticipation.”
He described Riverside Park as one of those special places where people also meet and gather.
“It’s almost like the centre of a compass rose. I spent some time thinking about what is it like to be in a place that feels special. The geography says there is something unique. If we’re observing and watching, what is it that we’re seeing?”
A contemporary artist from Haida Gwaii, Yahgulanaas has created a work that will be situated in a spot that was an historically important meeting point for the Secwepemc First Nations. Kamloops derives its name from the Secwepemc word T’kemlups, which means “where the rivers meet.”
Knowing that he’s creating a work for a site on traditional Secwepemc territory, Yahgulanaas said he’s consciously adapted traditional Haida ovoids and formlines in his sculpture to make them more universal.
Yahgulanaas has created other public art works in Vancouver: Take Off is a metal sculpture made with Volvo car parts at the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre; Abundance Fenced is a metal fence at Knight and East 33rd in Kensington Park inspired by the record- setting 2010 Fraser River salmon run.
Built at a cost of $ 130,000, Rivers will be going into the centre of a traffic circle on Lorne Street, which runs parallel to the park. Close by is Interior Savings Centre arena, home of the Kamloops Blazers junior hockey team.