Holding Hands With Victoria’s Past
Artist Crystal Przybille Reflects on Her Enduring Contribution to Our Cityscape
Words by Ashley stroh / imAGes by Ashley stroh & simon oGden
When you think of art in Victoria, it’s unlikely that Crystal Przybille is the first name that comes to mind. But more Victorians have been in proximity to her work than any other artist’s. They just don’t know it.
If you haven’t seen her pieces, hiding in plain sight at various locations around the city, you simply haven’t been looking hard enough. Many of them blend into the cityscape so seamlessly that, even if you’ve glimpsed one, you may have assumed it was just an intricate variation on a lamppost, or an embellishment on a building’s exterior. But one thing is certain: if you’ve wandered our city’s streets, you’ve passed by a handful of them.
Hands of Time (2012) is Przybille’s collection of 12 bronze sculptures, life-sized casts of hands enacting various activities that reflect significant moments in Victoria’s history. Most are placed around the downtown core, but their locations stretch from Lime Bay Park in Vic West to the summit of Beacon Hill.
The series came into being after Przybille’s submission won a competition held by the City of Victoria encouraging artists to propose works that reflected Victoria to commemorate its 150th anniversary.
The canoe in the Carving Canoe Paddle sculpture was designed by Clarence Dick and references the Lekwungen culture.
After returning to Victoria after some years away, I was regaining my bearings one afternoon, strolling the Songhees walkway near Spinnakers Brewpub. Rounding a corner on a scenic-route offshoot from the main pathway, I unexpectedly noticed two bronze hands emerging from a grass-covered rock. Without any context, their effect was jarring. How did they get there? Were they permanent? What’s their significance? Instantly intrigued, I needed to know more.
And so my research began, which included many expeditions to track down each of the twelve sculptures that grace Victoria’s streets and landmarks. (A splendid way to spend an afternoon, by the way. Scavenger hunting isn’t just for children.)
I recently had the privilege of speaking with Przybille about her iconic pieces and learning more about her approach. She spoke on the considerations that went into this work, her views on the way art is treated in British Columbia, and her advice for aspiring artists.
First Nations artist Carolyn Memnook designed the basket of the Digging Camas Bulbs piece found in Beacon Hill Park. The site of this sculpture overlooks a vast camas bulb field, a traditional territory of the Lekwungen peoples.
How did you come up with the concept for Hands of Time?
CP: When I was submitting my proposal for Victoria’s 150th anniversary art competition, I drew on experience from a previous project, started in 2009: creating a sculpture of Father Pandosy, an influential French Catholic priest associated with the first permanent Euro-Canadian settlement in the Okanagan.
In doing research for this piece, it became apparent that the Indigenous perspective hadn’t been included in the typical stories about the settlement. These increasingly obvious omissions sparked in me an awareness that I wanted to be sensitive and inclusive when commemorating a Canadian city—especially a capital.
So I met with the local Indigenous communities in advance, to take a more objective approach. I proposed 12 different sculptures to create a quieter and more inclusive series of artworks, rather than a typical monument. Two of the sculptures were created in collaboration with Indigenous artists from Victoria.
What are your views on the art scene in BC?
CP: British Columbia is relatively young in the art world. It’s also in a gorgeous geographic area where perhaps art doesn’t feel as important, surrounded as we are by the rich abundance of nature, but it is still essential.
In BC, nature is engaging and gorgeous. As such, we more commonly indulge in nature, rather than art. Art, and an appreciation of the arts, are still prevalent – but it is not as deeply anchored as our collective love for nature.
In other parts of the world, this feels different.
What is your advice for aspiring artists?
CP: Find people who are excited and engaged about art. Try to find other artists to create a community with. Stick with it. It can be hard to make a living, especially at first, but it is possible with dedication.
How long have you been a professional artist?
CP: I have been pursuing my art since finishing my undergraduate studies in 1997, and I’ve focused on public art for the last 15 years.
Do you work in any other mediums?
CP: I love making sculptures that will eventually be bronze. Working in clay is my favourite part of it, and then I make a mould of the clay sculpture that can be used for the lost-wax process to cast it into bronze. I also enjoy other metalwork. Painting is also something I enjoy, but sculpture has been my focus for the past 15 years.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
CP: Hands of Time and other sculptures involving collaborations with First Nations have provided such important learnings for me about colonization and historical blind spots. Since then I have become involved in several collaborative projects with members of Indigenous communities to raise awareness about these considerations.
There’s such a great opportunity through the arts to create interest and openness around these important and sensitive areas. I was thrilled that the City of Victoria was open to broader narratives when they selected this concept.
Hopefully I have encouraged a sense of curiosity in people through these pieces—about the history of the area, and what has happened on these lands through time—and inspired a larger cultural awareness.
