While You Were Away, 2025 Kinetic Sculpture

While You Were Away, 2025 by Dennis Lin In 2021, Dennis Lin suffered a devastating fire at his home in Kimberley Ontario, and has spent the last few years processing and cataloging the charcoal and debris.While you were away holds the remnants of a singular yet fragmented object: his family’s library. The centrepiece of this mobile, a suspended stack of burnt books, is a stark reminder of this loss. Surrounding it are carefully balanced pieces of charcoal, processed and organized from over two tonnes of fire remnants. Each fragment, extracted from the aftermath, holds traces of the library’s memory. Lin’s use of suspension serves both as a method of presentation and as an integral part of the work itself. Delicately balancing these remnants, he creates a composition that freezes these objects in time, preserving them even as their original forms and spaces have been irrevocably altered. While you were away embodies Lin’s need to hold onto remains of a life and space now lost.