Walter Redinger is no stranger to adversity: the distinguished West Lorne, Ontario, sculptor has conquered cancer and is currently living with Parkinson’s. He has also weathered more than four decades in the Canadian art world, which fêted him early in his career (legendary Toronto art dealer Av Isaacs gave him his first big break in 1963; he represented Canada at the Venice Biennale nine years later), then rebuked him, then reclaimed him in the mid-’90s as a pioneer of fibreglass sculpture. Ghost Ship, a massive piece 10 years in the making, seems a visceral manifestation of these ups and downs. With its gnarled limbs and joints, the 42-foot-long surrealist skeleton, made primarily of wood and fibreglass, brims with looming, indeterminate shadows. Redinger has always flirted with outrageous objects, but Ghost Ship stands apart—it is his clearest, most personal statement on time and impermanence, reminiscent of both a nest-like cradle and a grand, oddly elegant bier.

Walter Redinger Return to the Void: The Ghost Ship and Other Tales From the Ether. Artwork not for sale. Feb. 3 to March 11. Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, 952 Queen St. W., 416-395-0067, www.mocca.toronto.on.ca.