Open Handed - For the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you."
Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur & Author
 

These six banners are hung across the atrium of Vancouver's iconic public downtown library building. The banners depict three sets of hands, all in different postures of openness. Although I am not a person of aboriginal decent, I hope to respectfully reflect my appreciation and sensitivity to aboriginal culture and art through careful design choices. 

In preparation for this commission, I found it important to reflect on reconciliation in my own life. Embedded in all the creases and folds of my own hands is a complicated and unique history. As an immigrant, I was accepted and blessed with the abundance of this great country and I am proud to be Canadian. So how then would a nation of people with unique paths and histories approach truth and reconciliation? In this series, I hope to invite the country to be in a posture of openness. When our hands are open, we are ready to learn, grow, give, receive, and share. It is only in this place of openness that we can properly approach healing and building of our future. In many cultures, open hands are a symbol of hospitality, love and the human spirit.