Badanna Zack's roadside sculpture, Mound of Cars, intertwines the raw materials of nature with the vestiges of technology. Six discarded vehicles found on the property in a derelict state were towed, stacked in a pyramid fashion, crushed, and covered with earth. Integrated into the surrounding terrain, the mound is continuous with the ground level behind while its contours rephrase the rock formations which front the site. Bisecting the mound, the artist's incision reveals the inner stratification of detritus buried in this wall of earth. Overturned cars, damaged interiors, corroded carburetors, twisted fenders, smashed headlights and punctured wheels trail through the elevation, forming an aggregate of wreckage. Resembling an archeological dig at a land-fill site, the exposed sedimentary layers of refuse underscore our inability to contend with the by-products of our progress-driven culture, and the consequent speed of obsolescence which heralds the rapid demise of each new advancement. Commenting on the encroaching wastelands of industrial society, Zack's Mound of Cars becomes a "monument" to our pervasive, and insidious, contamination of the environment.
Carolyn Bell Farrell "Axis of Time,", The Tree Museum, (The Tree Museum, 2000)
Badanna Zack was born in Montreal Quebec in 1933. She studied architecture at McGill University from 1950-51 & 1952-53. Until 1962 she worked in a number of architectural firms as an draughtsman. Zack eventually reassumed her education at Concordia University where she earned a B. A. degree with a major in fine arts in 1964. She also attended Rutgers University from 1965-67 and was awarded a M. F. A. degree in sculpture.
Zack's work is characterized by its' large size, and scale, and the unusual materials that are often selected to construct these objects and installations. Her interest in recycling has become evident in many of the works created since 1992: the series of sculpture made of papier mache, the car pieces, A MOUND OF CARS & SERPENTINE MOUNDS, and POP CAN CORRIDOR made of re-cycled aluminum cans. At present she is working on a series of individual works made of corrugated card.
As a sculptor Zack has been involved in numerous local, national, and international exhibitions. Her work has been collected by numerous public galleries and many private collections.