St Francis “Death of a Canary, Act II” by Al Glann

Mixed Media, 41” x 7” x 6”

When you grow up on a family farm, as I did, you have an intimate relationship with the land and with animals, both wild and domestic. You are surrounded by nature, and come to know its rhythms well. From a young age, I was involved in caring for our farm animals. It was part of my daily life – it was my daily chore to feed the cattle and bed them down (spreading straw around the barn for them to sleep on). These animals, and caring for them, shaped who I am as a man, and as an artist. I wasn’t just feeding them, I was talking with them, getting to know their unique personalities, and learning from them. It helps you appreciate the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the cycle of life in a very real way.

I first learned about St. Francis of Assisi in Sunday school. The idea that there was a patron saint who saw God reflected in nature and was also looking out for our animals, really spoke to me. Many years ago, I was asked to sculpt St. Francis. It was a challenge that I was excited to take on. When I sculpt, I try to express the spirit and essence of the subject. My artworks are gestural; I experiment with line and weight. This ode in sculptural form embodies the heart St. Francis and of what he means to us today.

I started this particular St. Francis as an original for a cast bronze series. However, as I was developing the form, he was getting too much girth so I set him aside. When I came back to him the following year, I decided to take advantage of the additional space. The collage borrows the symbolism of the coal miner’s canary to warn us that we have taken our planet to the edge of destruction and seem hell bent on not stopping until we have reached the point of no return. The additional elements in the cage – the angels, the Madonna, the typography – are an homage to assemblage artist Joseph Cornell (1903- 1972).

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