When Hell Freezes Over by Lauren Davies, on view at Gallery 16, is a mixed media installation inspired by the collection of a small town museum located in Twillingate, Newfoundland, whose main attraction is a polar bear who had wandered near the village, was shot and killed by the local people and subsequently stuffed and put on display at the museum.  As polar bears rarely stray near human establishments unless their environment is under duress and they have trouble finding food, the fact that this village's museum features a taxidermied polar bear is a sure indication that their polar environment  is at a tipping point because of the effects of global warming.  Sure enough, the icebergs which still serve as the emblem of the region, are no longer present in the area, rendered a nostalgic memory of the past due to climate shifts.  In fact, Davies stumbled across the museum and its polar bear while on a trip to study these non-extant icebergs.

The focal point of the exhibition is Davies' version of the Twillingate polar bear.  A soft sculpture made of faux fur, her bear resembles an oversized stuffed animal more than an example of taxidermy, purposefully left featureless, with no eyes or mouth; it's cute, yet vulnerable.  Scattered around the bear are craft snowflakes, like the kind a child would use for a Christmas display.  On the walls around the bear are sculptures made of the same naive materials--Styrofoam, artificial snow, flocking and felt--mimicking the "folksy" displays of the Twillingate museum with its homemade icebergs.

The titles of some of her pieces point out the absurdity further, from The Facts Embroidered, which features the Twillingate logo of a sturdy farm house overlooking an iceberg in the bay, a sight no longer likely to be witnessed; to A Scene from the Abominable Snowman Interpretation Center, which shows a rather silly-looking Abominable Snowman made from a white fur glove linked to a crude drawing of the mythical beast by a line of thread.  Davies' recurring use of thread in the exhibition might allude to the tenuous grasp the people of Twillingate have on their immediate environment, at least judging from their museum displays.

The compelling description of this village's tiny museum leads me to believe, however, that Davies' installation is too sparsely set about the gallery space--I wish it were more crowded with other oddities and knick-knacks, in short, I wish there was more work to look at and consider.  Also conspicuously absent is the urgent plea for change or the polemic about global warming and environmental degradation, but this message is conveyed more subtly and with some humor, so it doesn't overwhelm, but rather sneaks up on you later when you least expect it.

--Natalie Stanchfield

(*Images, from top to bottom:  Lauren Davies, When Hell Freezes Over, April 11 - May 31, 2008; Gallery 16, Snowball Fort, 2008, model made from plaster, artificial snow and glass crystals, courtesy of the Artist and Gallery 16.  Lauren Davies, When Hell Freezes Over, April 11 - May 31, 2008; Gallery 16, The Twillingate Bear, 2008, mixed media sculpture, faux fur coat, wooden display pedestal with fabric, courtesy of the Artist and Gallery 16.  Lauren Davies, When Hell Freezes Over, April 11 - May 31, 2008; Gallery 16, The Facts Embroidered, 2008, shelf with digital print on cotton, rug, foam rubber object with thread, courtesy of the Artist and Gallery 16.  Lauren Davies, When Hell Freezes Over, April 11 - May 31, 2008; Gallery 16, A Scene from the Abominable Snowman Interpretation Center, 2008, drawing on plastic, fur-lined glove, flocking and thread on panel, photo courtesy of Natalie Stanchfield.)