The Shoreline Steward
Our Shoreline Steward, with her magnificent corona, is a beacon of hope for all. Her reverence for the natural wonder of the Thundering Waters of Niagara Falls is embodied in virtually every aspect of her being.
We tilted her forward on a custom made platform so she would radiate leadership and strength. With your eyes and hearts drawn first to her beauty, you get a sense of power and purpose, leading, striding forward, her feet barely touching the ground, almost as if to take flight. Looking at her from face on, the placement of the mist armature creates the impression of an Angel.
One of the things you will notice is that she is, perhaps uncomfortably for the viewer, perched right on the edge; this placement is meant to echo the environmental precipice that humanity is perched on. She was designed to be a sensory experience, to bring you into an awareness of your physical self, in the significant natural environment of Niagara, on this great planet Earth; our Shoreline Steward’s bare feet in the soil connects her to this world, to us.
Her wrist cuffs and chest emblem trumpet her status as a superhero. Her bodysuit of moss muffles her physique and her hair is natural and free, eschewing the trappings of conventional fashion, to cast attention to her message instead of her body. Her cape seems fluid, in the liquid emerald shades of the crystal clear waters at the crest of the waterfall. The caves behind the Falls are hinted at in the interior of her cape, with drops of water being flung outward with frenetic energy, that you may strain to hear the ferocious thundering roar of the water.
The sun, as the central focus of her headdress, shines through the perpetual mist of the cascade, creating an intensely brilliant rainbow. The flow of colours pulls you through stages of understanding, urgency, and respect. The subtle fragrances of the blooms (over 1500 stems!) in the rainbow teases your sense of smell awake, further forging your relationship with nature.
As you reach the great plumes of mist rising above, you can almost sense the droplets landing lightly on your cheeks, a soft persuasion, encouraging the evolution of your thoughts to action.
Finally, you encounter a serene scene devoid of colour and extraneous noise, and with empty spaces, to help clear your mind for contemplation. As you gaze at last upon the calming, quiet, hypnotic spiral of the whirlpool, you are motivated to reflect, and determine what one step you will take for the integrity of our shorelines. A swirl of pure white rose petals circle in the vortex of the whirlpool, and a handful of these petals are presented to you. As you connect with the petals, and feel their velvety softness, you are encouraged to take them to the real Niagara River’s edge, to connect with our water, and to scatter them over the surface of the river as your own Shoreline Steward ceremony, pledging your initiative. The petals will wind their way downstream to the real whirlpool, the purity of the petals a reflection of our vision for the purity of our water.
Moving back away from the piece, looking over the whirlpool, through the mist, and up the arc of the rainbow, is a surprising perspective. It allows you to clearly see your journey through the experience, your path from enlightenment, to action.
Crescent Gardens Floral Ltd pledges $700 ($100 for each colour of the rainbow) to sponsor a shoreline cleanup through a local nature group.
#ShorelineSteward