I was very inspired by a recent editorial assignment from The Globe and Mail, which provided a perfect outlet for my new explorations in incorporating digital collage into my work. This particular story was about an Italian immigrant to Canada who carved out a life for himself through years of hard work and dedication. The article was written by his grandson, and what struck me about it was the portrayal of the man as a sort of giant among men, who lived an epic life and helped hundreds of others, directly and indirectly, to make the same migration to Canada. So, I decided to depict the immigrant as an actual giant in a mythic scene reminiscent of Paul Bunyan and other fables, literally helping others across “on the back” of his hard work.

The digital part of this piece involved painstakingly assembling the pier, ocean, beach scene, and smaller figures from bits and pieces of photographs and drawings, along with the grafting of fabrics and textures to tie it all together.