Marguerite has been marooned on a deserted island, abandoned by her lover who jumped off a cliff, and given birth to a still-born infant. She becomes unhinged: lonely, confused, desperate, and sorrowful.

Marguerite is based on the historical woman Marguerite de la Rocque who arrived in Newfoundland on June 8, 1542. De la Rocque was exiled by her uncle to Isle des Demons for having an affair on board his ship with a young man. The secondary characters in Oh, Darlin… are simply alone, lonely and subsequently a little kooky.

Isolation cracks open the imagination. Banal house interiors have become bizarre staging grounds for human desire. The house becomes a metaphor for the psyche; and reveals itself as a place of mystery, wonder and danger. The kitchen floor becomes an ocean. The bannister a cliff. Within the house the lived and dream worlds collide.

Oh, Darlin.. explores the space of popular cultural myth. The mythic idea of the island, and the myth of De La Rocque is appropriated as a narrative tool, and the idea of an island is used as a psychological site of drama.

This work was create for Cooper’s Master of Visual Studies thesis at the University of Toronto.