Intervene

Intervene: group “Pop-Up” Exhibition of Land Art.

An immersive, inquiry-driven workshop where art emerges in dialogue with nature (PDF to come)

David Martinello, Derk Wolmuth, Christi York, Katelyn Atkins & Lycia Trouton
August 13-16th 2025
Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada

STEPS Public Art, in partnership with the Victoria Arts Council, presents INTERVENE—a unique land-based art project within the traditional territories of the Malahat, Cowichan, Tsawout, Tsartlip, and Pauquachin Nations, in what is known today as Mill Bay, BC.

Drawing inspiration from Shawnigan Creek & its surrounding environment, the invited artists created temporary, site-specific installations using found and natural materials—honouring the strength & resilience of the land. The program included guest speakers, dedicated studio time, and rich conversations, culminating in a “pop-up,” on-site public presentation.

Artist Statement:

This project is made possible by support from the CRD Arts & Culture, the Province of British Columbia through the Community Gaming Fund, the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts and TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.
My approach was to dialogue with, and use materials from the site, the Traditional Territories of lək̓ʷəŋən Speaking Peoples, itself.
Subtly, my work developed as Pop-Ups in dialogue within Martinello’s homestead context and public sculptural practice.

Mapleleaf Bed: This sculptural bed of leaves documents a type-of-dance between a near-by nursery stump (where I removed leaves) and a mattress-sized interior of a large ironwood timbre trough. This mini-site became a nod to ask the viewer to contemplate questions to do with eco-cultural and ethno-botany practices (the inversion of a Maple Trough for typical matter-of-fact home gardening). I placed tiny, individual Samara amongst the leaves to encourage your ideas to spark and fly into the ether.

Fernbed Vases: I gathered and inserted a carpet of cut fern leaves — in a type of dance up and down the cliff face in between the waves of fern plants — and compressed them into 2 of Martinello’s aluminum upturned columns-turned-vases. The rich compost of the forest floor, thus, becomes a pylon about the archeology of human endeavour.

Exploratory sketches upon the Canadiana obsession we have for “all things Maple,” given the tree’s iconic status, and its life-sustaining sweet water in our history. Emphasis was on mark-making created by drawing linear water-color “strikes” using an axe-blade on wet, green leaves.

Project Lead and Curator:

David Martinello (Project Lead and private land use for exhibition)
www.alternativewoodworks.com

Statement

“I see the artists and myself creating a dialogue using the effects of art to speak with and from nature. I’ll guide the conversation to examine the labour and legacy of the land to foster a holistic account of the environment. The landscape of Mill Bay innately informs our relationship with nature, where the influence of Shawnigan Creek, which runs through my yard, is seen as a fellow protagonist as we consider literal and figurative impacts on the land.” – D. Martinello

I see the artists and myself creating a dialogue using the effects of art to speak with and from nature. I’ll guide the conversation to examine the labour and legacy of the land to foster a holistic account of the environment. The landscape of Mill Bay innately informs our relationship with nature, where the influence of Shawnigan Creek, which runs through my yard, is seen as a fellow protagonist as we consider literal and figurative impacts on the land.

– D. Martinello

Christi York subsequently followed up with a Substack Slide Show following her experience: https://christiyork.substack.com/p/autumnal-offerings

Thanks to

VAC Photographer of exhibition: Dillon Lewchuk