Copper, in particular, holds a special resonance for Belmore. Sourced from Anishinaabe territories around Lake Superior, it is not merely a medium but the blood of the land and sky. It conveys warmth and carries communication. In his hands, it becomes a cosmological link between beings, times, and worlds. Against the Western impulse to parcel and extract, Belmore\u2019s copper reminds us that the land is continuous, living, and sovereign. In Bridge<\/em> (2014), Belmore appropriates ASCII computer code with copper-sheet fragments layered on a dark-grey wall. The compositions resemble binary digits, ones and zeroes, creating a visual link to the traditional Anishinaabe beadwork symbols displayed to the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belmore\u2019s works are not presented as objects to be deciphered. On one wall, a series of photographic prints captures close-up stone surfaces interlaced with bright golden, irregular, curvaceous forms resembling veins of copper. The images evoke the deep passage of time; white speckles and open marks resemble stars, spores, or ancestral traces. The shimmer of copper activates the images, transmitting a silent language. Surrounded by large expanses of white, the prints demand close inspection, inviting intimacy rather than spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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$\"Michael$
Michael Belmore<\/strong>
bzaan-yaa\/en silence, immobile\/be quiet, be still<\/em>, exhibition view, daphne, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Michael Patten<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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$\"Michael$
Michael Belmore<\/strong>
bzaan-yaa\/en silence, immobile\/be quiet, be still<\/em>, exhibition view, daphne, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Michael Patten<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
A nearby hanging sculpture, made from a series of horizontal wood slats suspended by copper wire, resembles a snow fence or wave trap. Its undulating shape and alternating bands of pale, ochre, and deep brown encourage both visual and tactile engagement. The curvature and uneven spacing suggest an organic geometry, conveying a rhythmic flow. The knots in the copper wire, in vertical direction, accentuate the warmth of the wood and evoke a history of manual labour, gesture, and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the floor is a circular installation composed of upright rectangular stones. Its golden accents and speckled surfaces evoke a constellation or sacred fire. The sculpture gestures toward a bridge between earth and sky; the vertical slabs offer grounding and elevation at once. Belmore has described his practice as \u201cfluid and responsive to place,\u201d especially liminal spaces such as shorelines, where land, water, and sky meet. This form summons that union, where the material becomes metaphysical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This ethos resonates most clearly in another wall-mounted sculpture made of horizontal wooden slats held by copper knots. Initially minimalist and formal, it gradually reveals a gentle rhythm. The dark brown and beige grain of the wood, its bends and spacing, orient the viewer rather than dominate. The work doesn\u2019t block space; it opens it, inviting touch, memory, and presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belmore\u2019s exhibition is not a spectacle. It is a set of invitations: to feel, attune, and dwell. His materials carry more than form; they carry relation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"daphne,<\/strong> Montr\u00e9al
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