Atrium (2010)

Atrium was wall-painting installation of 17 silhouettes reproducing the size and shape of artworks found in different exhibitions on view at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax) in the fall 2010. The silhouettes were painted the colours of the gallery room walls where the actual artworks were being displayed. Each silhouette stood in for an artwork made by a First Nations artist and included subject matter or a title which referred to Indigenous cultures or languages. This selection was drawn from works outside those on display in the First Nations gallery located directly above Atrium.

A folder accompanied the work, providing a legend to the painted silhouettes. The works title both refers to the architectural ‘heart’ of the building and suggests that since these collections connect to living histories, the relationships between Indigenous artists and gallery collections are at the ‘heart of the matter' here. 

In 2011, Busby made a series of Atrium silhouette mono prints, and in 2026, she exhibited a selection of them in UH-HUH / SORRY (Wil Aballe, Vancouver), re-contextualizing the work along side her SORRY and WE ARE WORRY Fragments as well as works by her late husband Garry Neill Kennedy.