Duncan Brooks

Empty Steps

Holland College
Salvaged wood, nails
114 x 68.5 x 86.5 cm
45 x 27 x 34 in overall

Empty Steps began as a personal fascination with the abandoned farmhouses that pervade the landscapes of rural PEI. I began this work by accumulating scrap wood in various stages of decomposition from abandoned properties across the Island. I view this process of pilgrimage and salvage as a way of giving new life to these materials. A staircase is the core of the home, intended to support and provide passage. The work is visually fragile and haphazard, juxtaposing the strength and reliability implied by the structure’s intended use with the rotting and ill-suited materials from which it is constructed.