For the Crativity of Our Artists

Editorial staff of the Journal “People Say” follows the work of fine art
artists that we wrote about and whose works we have in the collec-
tion of the journal.
We are thrilled with the success of our sculptor Ljiljana Otašević
whose art projects have been selected to decorate the squares, streets
and public institutions of several cities in Canada and China. With
her success, the artist Otašević motivates our editorial policy as well.
We congratulate her from the bottom of our heart.
We hope you, dear readers, will enjoy the information that fol-
lows, written and pictured, about the public works of our artist Lili Otašević:

Unity is a sculpture commissioned as part of China – Canada cultural
exchange. The main inspiration for the sculpture “Unity” comes from
one of five Chinese classics – the book named Yijing better known in
the western society as the I Ching. This book describes the ancient
divination method with 64 hexagrams (6 lines within each hexagram
hence the name). Particular hexagram that this sculpture represents is
the hexagram number eight – Pi – uniting, holding together.
Another point of inspiration is the Canadian Inuit pebble or rock
sculpture − Inuksuk.
In my sculpture I used these two inspirational elements to con-
nect two cultures – Chinese and Canadian. I shaped the hexagram 8
by stacking pebble-like forms to create the hexagram lines.

Crescendo in music represents a gradual increase in loudness in a
musical piece. This can also represent a general build up to reach a
point of great intensity, force or volume. My objective was to create
a sculptural piece that would connect historical and contemporary
context of Plains Road – specifically the connection of the area to
the (shipping) activities on the lake that resulted in prosperity and
urban intensification. I have put an emphasis on growth and water
(as an initial vehicle of community’s progress) as a central motif in
the piece. In the close proximity to the sculpture a new condomin-
ium is being built by the name of “Jazz Condos” so I used a reference
to music in the title to correspond to the immediate urban context of
the sculpture.
This is a multi-seating sculptural structure. Round and slightly con-
ical, this shape incorporates top that is wavy. The wavy design repre-
sents organic properties of the liquids – in this case an association to
a nice, smooth and discreetly wavy coffee. The title refers to taking a
break from a daily routine.
Besides aesthetical and symbolic aspects, this wavy top surface
features practical, varied, seating experience. One area is concave
while the opposite is convex. This creates different seat heights that
would accommodate people of different physical height and body
anatomy (taller people might find it more comfortable to take a seat
at higher seat area).