New Brunswick artist creates eye-catching installation for his home

Toys transformed into window treatments A Fredericton artist is turning heads on his street thanks to his new window shutters made from recycled toys.

FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick artist is literally turning heads with his new art installation.

Brian MacKinnon is a retired doctor who still assists with emergency surgeries. When he's not in the hospital, he's making art.

MacKinnon used thousands of recycled children’s toys to create colourful shutters for his home. The title of the piece is “I Love You Love Me.”

“I invented a heating process to melt the toys without burning them and make them all melt together in a big conglomeration. So these shutters are large individual plastic panels,” says MacKinnon.

MacKinnon’s neighbour, Marie Cashion, says the shutters bring a feeling of whimsy to the area.

“They’re kind of joyous. They kind of make you feel good and I just admire the idea of, talking about recycling, my gosh, the ultimate example,” says Cashion.

MacKinnon says he hopes his artwork will inspire others during the pandemic.

“I want it to be a visual burst of joy. I’ve been working on them for a few months, they took me a few months to make. The timing, however, is because of what we're going through,” says MacKinnon.

The pop of colour on MacKinnon’s home has caught the eye of many.

“I’ve seen lots of people taking pictures of his house. It’s incredible. Everyone has the same reaction, it's a stop, it's a gaze, and then a big smile on their face,” says Andrew Russell, MacKinnon’s neighbour.

MacKinnon says his art piece is his jump-start to spring and hopes it will bring smiles to all that pass by.

“I want and love the fact that you can be a six year old kid and possibly respond and like this work or dislike it, and respond to it as much as a so-called connoisseur,” says MacKinnon.