A Serving of Empathy consists of two bodies of work: Fragments of Memory and Potent Moments.

Fragments of Memory is a suite of five ceramic artworks that reconstruct my mother’s journey by train from Pense, SK, to Victoria, BC, in 1950 when she was fifteen. As I reconstruct my memory of her story, I explore the relationship between narrative content, memory, imagination, and perceptual position; examining how we try to inhabit and understand the experiences of others through imaginative means. Using conjoined ceramic forms, china-painted images, and ceramic shards, I create artworks that not only reconstruct what can be remembered but also describe the process of remembering.

Each of the artworks in Fragments of Memory describes my attempt to reconstruct a memory of a portion of my mother’s journey from Pense SK to Victoria BC in 1950. The images are aligned in order: My mother looking back toward her home to show the train as it leaves my mother’s home in Pense, her position inside the train as she looks down at her hands in her lap, the mountain view from the train in Alberta, the ferry crossing in British Columbia and finally, my mother’s arrival at her sister’s home in Victoria BC.

Potent Moments  is a collection of sixteen ceramic plates that depict young people, and occasionally their family members, at moments of crisis, transition, and suspense. These scenes, inspired by my experiences as a high school art teacher, are visual narratives created on modified ceramic plates.

Additionally, the exhibition features an interactive work, "Carousel of Innocence", set on a low plinth in the centre of the gallery. This piece offers a moment of pleasure and rest , inviting viewers to reflect on their own childhood memories and spin the carousel.