Diana Thorneycroft uses the gaze of the camera lens to capture "awkward moments" of accidents, injuries, disasters, bad behaviour, and terrible predicaments. As she set out to construct her imaginary scenes composed of toys, dolls, and figurines representing real people and fictional characters engaged in in the mundane activities of life, she could not foresee where it would lead. It began with humour — a satirical comedy of things typically Canadian; but after the laughter subsides, several important issues come to the surface that are of no laughing matter. Suddenly the darker side of human nature reveals itself: social indifference, acts of violence, primal subconscious wishes, repressed dreams, and nightmares. This less-than-perfect picture of the Canadian nation as exemplified by the actions and attitudes of its people is juxtaposed with reproductions of the romanticized landscape paintings of the Group of Seven and two artists with whom they have been closely associated, Tom Thomson and Emily Carr that have come to symbolize the Canadian myth in which we mostly believe. The heroic appeal of the paintings contrasts and yet blends with the kitsch objects of the child-like dioramas in the foreground. The paintings strangely envelope these staged tableaux, and find a new expression within the context of Thorneycroft's surreal creations. Group of Seven Awkward Moments are images full of contradictions and complex ambiguity that mimic the absurdity of the human or national condition. Amidst all the chaos, on question remains: who are we really?