Edmonton Abandoned Houses

Series. Oil on hardboard or canvas. 2024.

Abstract

My work involves research in abandoned and derelict houses in Edmonton. As a basis for my work, I explore the city and document them through photographs which I then edit and turn into painting. Since census data is publicly available, I used that information to plot each house on Google Maps to get a general idea of where these houses are located. The majority of them are located in the inner ring of Edmonton, and many are built by the contractor Golden Homes, a housing contractor that thrived during the postwar era in the 1950s.

I am intrigued by how these spaces change over time, how nature weathers them and grows around them, and how people enact change on them. Particularly, the concept of ‘ghosts’ or what lingers or has been left behind after these spaces have been vacated and subsequently demolished. I explore what remnants, context clues, or fragments are left behind which let us infer a narrative of those whose lives shaped in and around the space.