Haasdyk and Nguyen worked together to create the series over
the course of 2015 and 2016, with Nguyen developing the environments and Haasdyk
creating the characters within them. Each banner acts as a bridge between the
different worlds and the viewer.
“As an illustrator, storytelling is something I’m always
thinking of in my work,” says Haasdyk.
“These banners have a playful side, but they merge that with the idea of
showing the viewer the value of connecting with other people and our
community.”
Haasdyk and Nguyen, both local artists who attended ACAD,
saw The City’s request for banner proposals and decided to submit a joint
proposal for the project in 2015 when they saw the request.
“We really just applied on a whim,” says Nguyen. “We were
surprised when we heard that we got it – we had looked at the previous artists
who had won contracts and they were already well-established, whereas we had
just graduated and trying to get some experience by working together.”
Both artists say that working as a team was not without its
challenges – they were able to overcome
“We didn’t want to just represent traditional environments,”
says Nguyen. “We both agreed that we wanted each image to take on a fantastical
element and sense of surrealism. We want to catch the viewer’s attention, and
give them things to explore.” “We also
wanted a sense of celebrating our City and aspects of our history,” adds
Haasdyk. “We hope that the public will see the beauty and the value of our city
and our community in these pieces.”
The banners will remain in place for one year. Visit calgary.ca/centrecity for more
information on the Centre City banner project and to view past and present
artwork.
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