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GIBSONS, B.C. — Grace Mooney insists she is not paranoid. But there are hidden forces — a “cabal” — within Canada’s cultural institutions working against her, she says.

Conspiracy theories are just one of the things you have to put up with when you enter Mooney’s orbit. So are the incessant phone calls gently pleading with you to come see her collection.

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Eventually, you relent. And when you do, a realization sets in that maybe, just maybe, this feisty 87-year-old grandmother and retired artist does have something valuable. You begin to understand her frustration and sense of urgency.

So you dig a little more.

What you discover is that at the peak of her career in the 1970s and 80s, Mooney commanded the attention of government dignitaries and top museums around the world. Her claim to fame? An uncanny ability to create replicas of three-dimensional artwork that were practically indistinguishable from the originals.