CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – CRAYOLA

Crayola
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION is a series of images inspired by childhood memories of colour. For anyone growing up in the 1950s, what could possibly say colour more than Crayola?

“Purple had the starring role in my very first memory of a colour. It was 1953. Toward the end of the school year, our kindergarten teacher often spoke to us about Queen Elizabeth’s upcoming coronation. One day Miss Balson gave each of us an illustration of a crown; it looked like a page out of a colouring book. She then showed us a coloured photo of the crown. We were each given a box of six crayons and instructed to colour our crown. I diligently studied the coloured photograph. I liked the purple velvet fabric in the centre and determined that I would start with that. I dutifully dumped my crayons onto the tabletop but, to my dismay, there was no purple crayon. I was outraged that I had been given a task but not the necessary tools to complete the job. In the end, I coloured the purple cap with the red crayon. A week or so later, we were given a fresh copy of the same crown and told to colour it. I remember being annoyed that we were being asked to do the same thing over again. As before, the boxes of crayons had only six colours: green, yellow, brown, red, blue and black. No purple. I attacked the purple velvet cap first, this time with the blue crayon. (It would be a long while before I realized that I could have used the red and blue crayons to make purple.) Only in Grade One did I receive a box of eight crayons, the additions being orange and purple. This box of eight was the inspiration for Crayola.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023.

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – THE WEDDING

The Wedding
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

“When I was six years old, my aunt announced her engagement. The wedding was to take place a week after my seventh birthday, and I was to be the flower girl. I was thrilled. This was my first close encounter with love & marriage. During all the excitement of the months of planning, I felt like I was living in a fairy tale. One of the highlights was the fact that I was to wear a floor length dress just like my mother who was the matron of honour and the two bridesmaids. I loved my flower girl dress, although I was a little disappointed with the colour. It was a pale orange, just like the bridesmaids’ dresses. Matters were only made worse when I was told that the colour was not orange but shrimp! Perhaps that colour was fashionable in the 1950s, but I was not amused. To this day, I clearly remember that shade of orange, and I still do not like it. We are shaped by the colours that surrounded us in our formative years, both positively and negatively. The colour shrimp is as much a part of me as my physical DNA.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – KITCHEN

Kitchen
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

“Our small rented mid century bungalow did not have a dining room; perhaps that’s why the kitchen features in several of my early colour memories. I vividly recall a set of striped glasses; the smaller ones were used for juice and the larger ones for milk. I loved them even though the stripes were earthy shades of yellow, orange, green and red, not the clear saturated colours often associated with early childhood. In the 1950s, many gas stations gave away dishes and glasses to attract and retain customers. Once the attendant had filled up the car (there was no self-service) and the bill had been paid in cash (there were no credit cards), a “free” plate or glass was handed to the motorist. I do not know if the glasses that inspired this image were from a gas station or not. However, I do remember my mother telling my father to get another glass or plate the next time he took the car to be filled up.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – PONTIAC

Pontiac
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION is a series of images inspired by colour memories and informed by current research.

“In the early 1950s my parents bought their first brand new car, a Pontiac. I vividly remember the soft green colour of the shiny paint and the flashing highlights of the polished chrome trim. I particularly recall the front grill, which I now know was called the waterfall grill. It likely caught my attention as it was at eye level and was surmounted with a striking chrome hood ornament. Researching vintage Pontiac paint colour charts, I found that the green I so clearly remember was called Placid Green. To my very young eyes, that colour was soothing, sumptuous and sophisticated. Like other colours I encountered in my formative years, it remains a part of me all these decades later.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – JELL-O

Jell-o
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

This body of work, CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION, is an abstract autobiography inspired by childhood memories of colour. It explores the premise that we are all shaped by the colours that surrounded us in our formative years.

“Jell-o was inspired by early memories of my favourite everyday dessert. In the 1950s, it was available in six flavours: cherry, strawberry, raspberry, lemon, orange and lime. No matter the flavour, the fruity taste was refreshing. And the colour! In a glass bowl, the translucent look of the saturated colour of jell-o was magical, and the smooth texture was so satisfying. That is unless it was ruined by the addition of sliced bananas or a tin full of drained Fruit Cocktail. The only thing worse was a “jell-o salad” containing slices of celery, cucumber and stuffed olives. As a child, the sole welcome addition to this wobbly delight of a dessert was a dollop of whipped cream on top.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – FATHER’S FEDORAS

Father’s Fedoras
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

“The first picture I have of me with my father is a small black and white snapshot; on the back is written “8 months old.” In this outdoor photo, my father is wearing a fedora. Obviously, I do not remember that day, but I do have many early memories of my father’s hats. I was 50 years old when my father died and throughout that the half century, he wore fedoras. In the 1950s, they were typically made of fur-felt and came in various shades of grey, brown and black. The soft brim was worn up in the back and down in the front, while the depth of the brim, the height of the indented pinched-front crown, and the width of the grosgrain ribbon varied over time. Movie stars such as Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra made fedoras the icon they remain to this day, but it was my father’s hats that inspired this image.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel.
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023.

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – NEAPOLITAN

Neapolitan
© 2022 Leslie Hossack

“When I was a small child, cake & ice cream was reserved for special occasions. Birthday celebrations always meant Neapolitan ice cream. It was particularly memorable because it came in three flavours (chocolate, vanilla and strawberry) and because it was sliced, not scooped. In the 1950s, the small freezer compartment in our refrigerator did not keep anything frozen for long. Just before dinner, my father would be dispatched to the dairy to buy a pint of Neapolitan ice cream. It came in a small brick-shaped carton, not unlike a pound of butter. An hour later my mother would take the ice cream out of the freezer to serve dessert. We were each given a plate with a piece of cake already moistened by a slice of rapidly melting Neapolitan ice cream. Like all images in this collection, Neapolitan is composed of blocks of colour designed to convey the feel and tone of my early surroundings. Can colour alone serve as a conduit of memory?”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – DISHES

“Many of my early colour memories revolve around food and related items. In the 1950s, we had a set of dishes that I absolutely loved. Habitant Studio Ware was a hand-painted pattern manufactured in England by J&G Meakin. I clearly recall the cereal bowls and the bread and butter plates. To me, they looked like plaid dishes. In a set of eight, two plates had intersecting red stripes, two had green stripes, two had yellow stripes and two had grey stripes. These dishes seemed to have been designed by a rambunctious child rather than by a rule-bound grownup. When the table was set, it looked comical and playful and very colourful. This image, Dishes, combines the four Habitant colours into one recollection.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel.
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023.

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – LIFE SAVERS

“When I was growing up, candies such as jelly beans and Life Savers were a colourful treat. A roll of Life Savers could often be found tucked away in Grandma’s purse or hidden inside a Christmas stocking. In the 1950s, Life Savers came in five flavours: lemon, pineapple, orange, lime and cherry. The image here, Life Savers, is inspired by memories of the paper wrapper that surrounded the tin foil cylinder of candies – the only candies with the hole in the middle.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel.
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023.

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION – WINTER

This new body of work, CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION, is an abstract autobiography inspired by childhood memories of colour.

ABOVE: “Winter was inspired by early memories of a striped wool blanket. Here in Canada, the hot summers and cold winters make seasonal changes of clothing and bedding an annual ritual. Every autumn when I was very small, my mother replaced the light summer covers on my bed with a heavy wool blanket. During the long nights and bright days of winter, the colours of that blanket entered my soul where they remain to this day.”

PRINTS
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum composite panel.
30 x 24 in.

CONSTRUCTED RECOLLECTION: An Abstract Autobiography – Childhood Colour Coded.

Selected images from Constructed Recollection featured in online exhibition at:
StudioSixtySix.ca Spring/Summer 2023.
TheCommotion.ca 21 January – 25 February 2023.

To view more work by Leslie Hossack, please visit lesliehossack.ca

ABOUT Leslie Hossack