In the exhibition Voyageur, the sculptural installation Portage: FORD TAURUS and the video installation ROAD TRIP, work in tandem to unfold Whidden's realization that: "under every stretch of highway lies the memory of a pre-modern landscape." Accordingly, she has doned the mantel of the post-modern Coureur de bois by transfroming the entire metal carapace of an automobile into a simulacra of a canoe, its paddles, and dogsled and several rucksacks. These sculptural assemblages were then physically portaged by Whidden and a band of intrepid fellow "voyageurs" around Niagara Falls during the summer of 2006.
Elinor Whidden received a BA in Canadian/Environmental Studies from Trent University, a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and a MFA from SUNY at Buffalo. She has exhibited throughout North America, recently showing work in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Buffalo NY. In 2004 she was featured as an emerging artist on CBC's Zed TV and in 2007 she attended the Walking and Art residency at the Banff Centre. Whidden is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including creation grants from Nova Scotia Culture, Tourism & Heritage, the Ontario Arts Council, and most recentlly from the Canada Council for the Arts. Whidden's current artistic practice continues her quest to find a way to survive and adapt in a world increasingly threatened by contemporary car culture.
