Kennisis: Horse and Rider (#19 on marker)

Artist: William Lishman

About: Kennisis Horse and Rider was originally part of a larger sculpture called “Transcending the Traffic” created for Expo ’86 in Vancouver which focused on Transportation and Communication. William Lishman won a commission to create a large sculpture for the Land Transportation plaza. He made an 86 foot tall spire with all kinds of transportation through time spiraling upwards – starting with a monster truck at the bottom and a single person on foot at the top. Expos don’t purchase sculptures, they lease them; so Lishman was able to take all of the structures home to his farm near Port Perry.

This piece represents a First Nations rider from the Canadian plains with his horse –If you look closely at the sculpture you can see a human skull inside the horses head - representing the incredible bond of mind and muscle between horse and rider.

This sculpture was purchased by Janis Parker and donated to the Haliburton Sculpture Forest. Since it was part of a larger piece the horse and rider did not have a name.

Janis chose the name of the sculpture from the name of the lake that she lives on and after a racehorse owned by Gary Vasey and Don Finn, to honour the Vasey and Finn families who have both contributed a lot to the area. The sculpture is made from pieces of metal left over from the manufacture of car parts.

Materials: Milled Steel,