The James Museum presents Ergo Sum: A Crow a Day, an exhibition featuring 365 original works of art by Canadian-born artist Karen Bondarchuk. In 2014, Bondarchuk set out to mark the passing time that her mother – diagnosed with dementia in 2010 – no longer could. For 365 days, she produced a crow a day on a small hand-cut panel, remembering her mother as she once was and grieving her loss. The resulting body of work explores communication and an artist’s relationship to the world; it resonates for its depth, beauty, and whimsy.

While select imagery references personal history, the panels relate to universal emotions and sentiments. Bondarchuk chose playful, intelligent, and enigmatic crows and ravens to animate her series. Situating them in ways emblematic of the human condition, they stride and swagger, perch and cling, float and dive, converse and proclaim. Set against splashes and swipes of color, the birds’ gestures range from bold to inquisitive to quirky. Though Bondarchuk’s motivation to create the works was a loss, each panel brims with energy, personality, and expression. “The series is simultaneously a marker of my mother’s lost time and a constant reminder of my own days, my life, and an attempt to signal visually the preciousness and individuality of each day,” she said.

“Bondarchuk’s series is a touching tribute that reminds us that time is fleeting and beautiful,” said Emily Kapes, Curator of Art at The James Museum. “I think this exhibition will resonate with anyone who has experienced the decline or loss of a loved one.”

Special thanks to our Presenting Sponsor, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and Bayfront Health St. Petersburg Foundation, and Exhibit Gold Patron, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute.