Unifying Opposing Viewpoints: Art by Prav Pillay
Conceptual and multi-media artist Prav Pillay uses his practice as a way of unifying opposing viewpoints, and rectifying the tension between environmentalism, history and technological advancement. Prav’s works take many forms and incorporate a range of media including installation, public art, sculpture and photography.
Prav’s most recent works took the form of a public installations in collaboration with the Squamish first nation. Transformation in Earth and Stone is a collaborative artwork in Fort MacMurray, Alberta, based around a “thunderbird egg” – that is, a large irregular boulder. The boulder was etched with petroglyph designs and placed at the center of a garden arrangement with a number of smaller stones and directional pathways. Prav worked closely with artists Xwalactun and Cleo Reese.
The front page of Prav's website
The artist also created another Transformation work in North Vancouver, BC over the past year. I like the way the two works differ, each expressing the unique shape of its own environment. The North Vancouver work is installed on the waterfront and features a tall, obelisk-like boulder surrounded by rings of smaller stones.
