Canadian Canopies, 2009

October 8 – 31, 2009
Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC

Regardless of type or dominance, tree cover directly affects the quality
of our environment—a decline in one is a decline in the other.
Dr. Roberta Bondar

Diane Farris Gallery is pleased to present Roberta Bondar’s most recent series of photographs, Canadian Canopies. Her new body of work captures the natural beauty of Canadian trees over four seasons and spotlights the environmental and cultural importance of trees to Canadians.

Bondar’s images underscore the vital roles that trees play in our urban communities. Described as “the lungs of the earth”, coniferous and deciduous trees create a protective, dynamic interface between life on the surface of Earth and the open universe above. The elegant photographs call attention to the lush green leaves of summer, the crisp coloured foliage of fall, delicate winter snowscapes, and the soft colours of spring. Each image is accompanied by poetic text describing their functional and ornamental characteristics. In her panoramas of Norway maples, Copper beeches, chestnut, spruce, oak and sycamore trees, Bondar encourages viewers to look upward and become visually immersed in the canopies.

A true renaissance woman, Dr. Roberta Bondar is best known as an astronaut on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1992. She is also a noted environmentalist, a preeminent scientist, physician and photographer. As a neurologist, Bondar specialized in neuro-ophthalmology, investigating how we see and view the world around us. Canadian Canopies is Bondar’s third solo exhibit with Diane Farris Gallery.

For information on availability and pricing of these and other works by Roberta Bondar, please contact Diane Farris Gallery at or .