Agglomeration is a mixed media piece using acrylic and oil paint on canvas. Here, texture and color are used to represent the urban, built environment of the North End, blending tones that are reminiscent of earth and concrete. The variation in brush stroke techniques show movement and depict the fast-changing structures surrounding the people at the neighbourhood’s core.

Halifax’s North End is a place of connectivity, culture, and diversity. Over the years, the North End has seen its surroundings shift and change: new buildings have been erected, new people have entered and new, inclusive spaces continue to be made. Although this environment may feel unfamiliar, a deep sense of community has never left.

Agglomeration showcases this sentiment, by presenting a face made of disparate elements. These individual features come together en masse to “agglomerate,” creating one visual identity. In the same vein, an urban agglomeration is defined as a “highly developed spatial form of integrated cities”, one which shifts from a state of competition to cooperation. This too is reflected in the North End’s complex and symbiotic neighbourhoods, interconnected economies and cultures.

The adaptability and ingenuity of this community is represented in this piece, which sits at the edge of form and formlessness. At its centre, it is vividly human, dynamic and colorful -- as are the people of Halifax’s North End.