Once A Sea (where stone turns water into clouds)

Akb Architects presents ‘Once A Sea (where stone turns water into clouds)’, an exhibition of new work by artist Karen Miranda Abel, on view in the Akb studio gallery.

The exhibition is a sculptural exploration of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere—a geological force that has shaped Ontario’s landscape for millions of years. Hollow glass sculptures, paired with forms in carved stone and both sand-cast and forged bronze, hold water collected from eleven waterfalls along the escarpment’s watercourses—including the Pottawatomi River, Silver Creek, Ancaster Creek, and tributaries of the Beaver, Nottawasaga, and Grand rivers—capturing quiet traces of time and place while honouring the intrinsic value and complexity of this geological landform.

Once part of a shallow tropical sea, the geomorphological formations of the Niagara Escarpment are remnants of an ancient seabed carved by glacial ice and riverine systems across deep time, revealing the dolostone cliffs, crevice caves, rock pools, and exposed fossils of the present world. The escarpment continues to evolve through its interactions with water, perpetually channelling and transforming streams and rivers into rolling cascades and dynamic cloud-like mists that descend into curtain and ribbon waterfalls and swirling plunge pools.

Akb Architects is pleased to present an artist whose work offers a compelling perspective on shared concerns. The architecture studio’s interest in crafting ephemeral architectural experiences that invite reflection and connection to the land finds a natural parallel in Abel’s poetic, interdisciplinary environmental art practice.

Presented at Akb Architects, 182D St. Helens Avenue, Toronto

Exhibition Dates: January 23–December 24, 2026
Gallery Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm or by appointment (closed holidays)
Opening Reception: January 30, 2026 | 6–9 pm

The artist acknowledges the support of Akb Architects, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Ontario.