The artist book While in Canada represents an evolution of the conceptual framework established in the Etching Plate as Shield series. Originally conceived as a response to urban anxiety and media-driven narratives of crime in London, the project was recontextualised during a 2009 residency at the University of British Columbia. Here, the defensive apparatus—a full upper-body shield constructed from a copper etching plate—was worn by Hawrysio as she navigated the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. This work builds upon the performance-based printmaking seen in her earlier public walks, where the plate serves as both a literal barrier and an indexical record of the artist’s environment.

However, While in Canada shifts the focus toward the inherent contradictions found within national identity. By placing the protective copper shield within the specific social landscape of Vancouver, the work highlights the friction between the external perception of Canada as a sanctuary of safety and the grit of its marginalised urban realities. Now transformed from a large-scale digital photograph into an intimate book format, the project binds these layers of performance and process together. The resulting object is a meditation on vulnerability and visibility, exploring how the physical evidence of a journey can be preserved within the pages of a book to challenge our understanding of place and protection.