Crown of Fire by Arcana Shanks
SITE #1:
Churchill Square
Arcana Shanks
Crown of Fire
Crown oCrown of Fire, 2023f Fire, 2023
Crown of Fire is a portal and a mirror. Representing the 731,634 hectares ravaged by human-caused fires during the 2011 Alberta wildfire season, Crown of Fire provides a place for contemplation and consideration. What is lost in the fire, and what can be found within the ashes? Visitors are invited to walk through the skeletal forest, touch the scorched columns, smell the sweet scent of birch smoke, and immerse themselves in this liminal landscape. The creation of this artwork was supported by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“My practice is inspired by the entangled connections between humans and more-than-human beings, particularly beings that exist beyond the traditional definitions of life such as wildfires, oceans, minerals, and other biological entities.”
I am interested in collaborative art-making methodologies that cross the traditionally established boundaries between artistic fields, and in creating artworks that pull inspiration from visual art, music, theatre, literary arts, and more. Through my artwork I strive to create transformative spaces that nurture critical introspection about how connections are made between people, nature, place, and time, and the substantial power for change that those connections hold.
Methodology, materials, and process are significant considerations for every artwork I create. The materials—fire, wood, ash, and salt—that I create with are as significant to the creation of an art piece as I am, and I make space wherever possible for nature to exist uncontrolled within my creative process.
Much like the environments I am inspired by, I embrace deep-time thinking and move through cyclical periods of preparation, creation, and introspection. At present, I am deeply focused on developing a body of work that visualizes the impact of wildfires as a manifestation of the symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature, working alongside fire as a companion, muse, and creative collaborator. Rooted in visual art theory, scientific data, and philosophical theory, my ever-growing relationship with fire has been my most meaningful and most fulfilling creative exploration to date. I look forward to the future with all the awe, inspiration, and trepidation befitting a wildfire.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Arcana Shanks (they/she/elle) is a Northern Alberta-born visual artist and artist-researcher currently residing in Montréal, Québec. Her practice is centered on entangled connections between humans and more-than-human beings, particularly beings that exist beyond the traditional definitions of life such as wildfires, oceans, minerals, and other biological entities.
The cyclical relationship between creation and destruction and the subtle and overt impacts of human activity within ecosystems are core concepts throughout her portfolio. Shanks embodies these concepts in performance, voice and sound, and sculptural artworks, presenting them as conduits to ground the omnipresence of nature within the contemporary art space.
Their work is characterized by immersive, multi-sensory elements fused with poetic narrative and storytelling. Shanks often creates artworks that cross the boundary between mediums and exist in liminal, hybrid spaces.
Shanks graduated with distinction from the University of Lethbridge in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Studio Art, having received the Roloff Beny Foundation Photographic Award in Fine Arts in their final year. Her artworks have been presented internationally in exhibitions and publications across Canada, the United States, and England. Her research on artistic collaboration with biological entities has been presented to international audiences at the 2024 FEMeeting conference at the University of Windsor, Ontario and the 2025 UAAC-AAUC Conference at York University, Ontario. Shanks is a co-founder and co-artistic director of CARBON Artist Collective, a Canada-wide community of artists researching the beinghood of nature. For the summer of 2026, Shanks will be working abroad in Ísafjörður, Iceland during an 8-week research-creation residency focused on collaborative artmaking with the land.