The Hollow Man (2026) by Jon Sasaki

Artist-initiated project: The Hollow Man (2026) by Jon Sasaki

The Hollow Man is a temporary public sculpture at Hastings Park by artist Jon Sasaki, commissioned through our Artist-Initiated Program, which invites artists to propose their own public artworks and sites throughout the city.

The work puts a face to the political decisions that led to the internment of Japanese Canadians.

In the artist's words

“The impetus for The Hollow Man was the idea that, if reevaluating civic statuary can be a productive, potentially healing process… what happens when there is no statue to act as a locus for these conversations and actions? Will that bad actor continue to evade scrutiny?” — Jon Sasaki

Map of The Hollow Man at Hastings Park

What is The Hollow Man sculpture

Roughly cast in aluminum and assembled from visibly bolted components, the sculpture presents a hollow figure—a representation of absence rather than honour.

Unlike traditional civic monuments, which are created to celebrate individuals and ideals, The Hollow Man is an anti-monument, which deliberately challenges traditional monuments by questioning official histories and power structures, encouraging public reflection, debate, and more inclusive or critical understandings of memory in shared spaces.

Ian Mackenzie and historical context

The work depicts Ian Alistair Mackenzie (1890 to 1949), a Liberal Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre during the Second World War. While Mackenzie’s role in Canadian history has largely escaped widespread public recognition, his actions in office had devastating and lasting consequences for Japanese Canadians.

As a federal minister, he played a central role in the forced removal of Japanese Canadians from the British Columbia coast, the removal, incarceration, and dispossession of approximately 22,000 people and the suspension of their civil and human rights. These actions resulted in profound cultural, economic, and generational harm, the effects of which continue to be felt.

Purpose of the work

By presenting Mackenzie as a hollow, temporary figure, the sculpture asks how societies choose whom to remember, and how public monuments can either obscure or confront historical injustice.
Where the artwork is located and how it’s designed

Hastings Park and its historical significance

Sasaki chose to locate this sculpture outside the Livestock Building at Hastings Park, a site of particular historical significance. In 1942, the building was used as a temporary detention facility where more than 8,000 Japanese Canadians were held in animal stalls while awaiting their forced removal from the coast. Among those detained there were members of the artist’s own family.

How the work is experienced and design

Most visitors will approach the sculpture from behind, first seeing an empty shell—coarse, unpolished, and provisionally constructed.

The figure is intentionally made from inexpensive aluminum, formed through industrial sandcasting rather than traditional bronze. The material choice evokes disposability, reinforcing the work’s refusal to confer honour or permanence.

From the front, the sculpture presents an accurate likeness of Mackenzie, putting a face to the cruel deeds that injured so many. The statue will exist untethered from the care of custodians or art conservators during its existence in the public realm.
About the artist, Jon Sasaki
Jon Sasaki is a Tkaronto (Toronto)-based multidisciplinary artist who explores many concurrent streams of inquiry that regularly intertwine. He is represented by Clint Roenisch Gallery in Toronto. For the past dozen years, his Japanese Canadian heritage has played a central role in his practice, as he works to reconnect with a Nikkei culture that was not part of his Yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese Canadian) upbringing in Ontario.

Solo and group exhibitions

Sasaki's work has been shown in solo exhibitions at:
- Richmond Art Gallery
- Esker Foundation, Calgary
- McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
- The Rooms, St. John's, Newfoundland
- Art Gallery of Ontario
Recent group exhibitions include:
- Canadian Embassy in Japan (Tokyo)
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
- The Bentway, Toronto
- Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto
Installation period and planned removal

Why the sculpture has an end date

The mass internment of Japanese Canadians began on February 24, 1942, following an Order in Council passed under the War Measures Act. Japanese Canadians were not permitted to return to the coast until April 1, 1949, a period of 2,593 days. The Hollow Man will remain on site for the same length of time.

When the sculpture comes down

At the end of 2,593 days, the sculpture will be taken down and destroyed. The aluminum will be melted down and the material used for future community purposes. The removal of the sculpture is an integral part of the work, conceived as a deliberate and cathartic act.
Council's response to the history reflected in The Hollow Man

In 2013, Council issued a formal apology (29.5 KB) to the Japanese Canadian community for discrimination and dispossession during World War II, the same history The Hollow Man reflects.

We're currently supporting the development of a Japanese Canadian Interpretive Centre at Hastings Park by advancing Council’s December 2024 motion, Support for Japanese Canadian Interpretive Centre at Hastings Park (167 KB).

Learn more about this work and the history it references through Visual Artist | Jon Sasaki and the Japanese Canadian Hastings Park Interpretive Centre Society .