WORKSHOP : Reimagining Fragments as Monument

In Reimagining Fragments as Monument, we will give insights into our studio practice, both Mao Projects and our collaborative art practice, with a focus on our recent exploration into transforming broken and unusable ceramic pieces into visual frameworks for art objects and public art pieces. Rather than reinforcing permanence or authority, our work engages with plurality, and the quiet power of fragments—material and conceptual alike.

Using our recent Pieced Together Art Bus project as a central case study, we will share how we re-photographed and digitally collaged discarded ceramic forms—studio test tiles, failed firings, and personal remnants—into a cohesive and joyful public artwork. Installed on two Calgary Transit buses, this moving mosaic offers a counter-monument: not a celebration of dominance or legacy, but a tribute to imperfection, everyday stories, and emotional residue.

Art Bus: Connecting Communities with Public Art is an annual public art program developed by Calgary Arts Development. The Art Bus program helps bring public art into a variety of areas and communities throughout the city by inviting artists to use a public transit bus as their canvas. “