Artist: Frank DeSa

Title: “One through Ten”

Artist Statement:

I am proposing the work titled ,“One through Ten” For the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage Public Art Project. The work will consist of 10 panels of simple line drawings of hands making numerical gestures of the numbers 1 through 10. The way they are displayed would lead the viewer to see that, from one number to the next, you have to switch hands. i.e, 1 is shown as the right hand and 2 is shown as the left hand, 3 back to the right hand and so on until 10. After the number 5, the hands continue to switch with each number. The background colour gradient resembles the colour gradient of the setting sun. It has high visual impact at this size. The hands also have a subtle drop shadow, making them pop out of the flat surface. The view of that face of the garage is looking westward. I would hope that at some point the setting sun and the background colours would become one, connecting the work to the unique and skyline view in this downtown location.

It is my hope that the work will engage the viewer every time they are in that area. It will mimic the back and forth of the traffic in this area. The hands travel back and forth as do pedestrians and motorists. It could even be a game one plays alone or with friends, to see how fast they can repeat that numerical gesture while switching hands. The gesture of this counting is both mental and physical and is one of the primary ways in which we engage with each other and with the world. These are signs and signals only humans make. I would like to think it would draw people to this space to experience and play along. This work aims to engage both mentally and physically and perhaps spiritually.

Artist Bio:

Frank DeSa is a Kingston based Artist and Machinist/metal fabricator. He is a graduate of St Lawrence College (Fine Arts), Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA) and has studied at Queens University. Frank has extensive knowledge in industrial fabrication and has worked on many large scale private and public art works. He is currently aiding in a, as of yet, unannounced large scale art project for the TTC. He also created the Kingston Mayor's art awards in 2018.

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.