Rock Fire Ice – Images of the Torngat on display at Parks Canada Discovery Centre

News Release

Newfoundland and Labrador-based artist Christine Koch explores Torngat Mountains’ geology in art exhibit


August 3, 2017                              Woody Point, NL                           Parks Canada Agency

The Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador is a special place; created with fire, carved by ice. This summer, Parks Canada is excited to present ROCK FIRE ICE: Images of the Torngat by Newfoundland and Labrador-based artist Christine Koch. The exhibition is at the Parks Canada Discovery Centre in Woody Point until October 9th, 2017, and can be seen during opening hours, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

This is an exhibition of large-scale paintings and original prints offering a glimpse of the dramatic geology and geomorphology of the Torngat Mountains in northern Labrador. Christine Koch travelled to the Torngat in 2011 and 2012 with geographers from Memorial University who were conducting research relating to the impact of climate change on the glaciers there. The resulting – and ongoing – body of artwork interprets some of the landscapes she encountered in that remote environment, and references both the glaciers themselves as well as the underlying geology and its dramatic tectonic origins.

Every conceivable geological event – volcanic, tectonic, glacial – has occurred in the Torngat Mountains and is embedded in this environment. It is also the ancestral home of many of northern Labrador’s Inuit people. The subarctic Torngat Mountains National Park is an Inuit homeland, a treasury of the powerful stories, spirits, and traditions of centuries of travellers whose descendants welcome those wishing to join them in following ancient footsteps through a dramatic landscape where nature and culture connect.

During this year of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Parks Canada is proud to share images of this remote part of the country, while showcasing the work of a local artist.  

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the Government of Canada is very pleased to offer free admission to all Parks Canada’s places in 2017. The free Parks Canada 2017 Discovery Pass provides opportunities to enjoy national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas across the country.

Quick Facts

  • Christine Koch was one of the inaugural Artists in Residence in Gros Morne in 1998, and since that time, she has maintained a summer studio in Woody Point. She has been an invited Visiting Artist with scientific field parties working in remote areas in Canada’s North, and her work has been supported by both the Canada Council and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. Her paintings and original prints have been shown across the country and in the USA in more than 30 solo shows as well as in many group exhibitions, and she is represented in major public and corporate collections in Canada and the USA, and in private collections worldwide. For more information on the artist and her work, please visit her website: www.christinekoch.com.

  • For information on activities occurring in Gros Morne National Park this summer, follow us @ParksCanadaNL, visit www.parkscanada.gc.ca/grosmorne, or contact us at (709) 458-2417 or grosmorne.info@pc.gc.ca

  • The Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station, operated by the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies at the head of Saglek Fjord at the southernmost border of the park, hosts Inuit Elders and youth, researchers, and tourists, each summer. For more information on activities occurring in Torngat Mountains National Park, follow us @ParksCanadaNL, visit http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nl/torngats, or contact us at (709) 922-1290 or torngats.info@pc.gc.ca.

Associated Links

Contacts

Greg Knott
Public Relations and Communications Officer
Western Newfoundland and Labrador Field Unit
Parks Canada
709-458-3273
gregory.knott@pc.gc.ca
@parkscanadaNL
www.facebook.com/grosmornenp

Media Relations
Parks Canada Agency
855-862-1812
pc.media@pc.gc.ca

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