Richard Edwards is an artist whose practice has had an on-going dialogue between adversity, memory, and landscape. His three dimensional paintings are created from digital photographic images and cardboard painted constructions encased in plexi-glass. They house snapshot scenes of Edwards’ influences and childhood memories. His past series of works showcase images of water systems, ships, landscapes, heavy industry and expeditions which have been reoccurring themes in Edwards’ expansive art career.

Edwards’ current series offers a departure from his childhood memories of living in Wales into a reflection of the Canadian landscape and the notion of traditional painting. This series, The Heart of Darkness...Representations of Nature..., gives a fresh approach to the tradition of landscape painting. The exhibition title is derived from the novella of the same name, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Edwards states that the underlying theme of
Conrad’s book is an investigation of self. Edwards contemplates the nature of landscape painting and its departure from traditions into new painterly forms. This series of fifteen tableaux constructions depicts scenes that reference Canadian landscape painting in a new and innovative way. Models, trees, sand and rocks are carefully placed inside a plexi-glass cube creating a tableau which removes the cliché of picturesque, plein air landscape painting in favour of displaying the imagery in three dimensions. Even though these paintings share three dimensional qualities of sculpture, they are best viewed in one hundred eighty degrees, which presents the work as having two dimensional compositional elements similar to a painting.

In this series, Edwards’ works further evoke allusions to famous artists through subtle references. For instance, a lonely birch bark canoe sits in a river system void of human presence. When applied to Edwards’ work, this could be a pastoral reference to Tom Thomson and the traditions of landscape painting, or as a macabre invocation of the mystery surrounding the demise of one of Canada’s early landscape artists.

The canoe also evokes the idea of exploration, another thread common in Edwards’ art. Early Canadian Palliser expedition explorers utilized the canoe to gather information on the Canadian landscape for colonial settlement. This concept parallels the exploration of the Congo in Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness.

Artistic expression provides a vehicle of self evocation that distances stereotypes of adults with disabilities as removed from having a “voice”. Through the process of art making, themes emerge of their life experiences, and emotions, that are expressed with a combination of sensitivity and complexity . Rather than dismissing or ignoring their disabilities and limitations, they embrace it. As a result they develop their own lucrative art practice full of impressive and expressive art forms.

The exhibit Were Better Together is the collaborative pairing of artists Brad McCaull, and Diane Heemskerk . They are long time friends that encourage and nurture each other in their visual art practice. McCaull encourages the collaborative process through his drive to stay on task. Heemskerk is often the visionary for their collaborative works. They are currently creating a large scale fibre art project; a rug hook diptych, to be completed sometime in 2011-12.

McCaull's art practice feature exotic landscapes and buildings reminiscent of a Mediterranean colour palette, . They feature his desire and dreams of travel. He incorporates a range of brushstrokes that evoke a sense of perspective and volume in his paintings; his urban landscapes depict a hub of excitement with crowds of people on streets and sailboats in sea ports.

His art practice also explores three dimensional art forms. Utilizing his vibrant colour scheme, his fuzed glass pieces dynamically illustrate abstract geometric and organic patterns and forms.

Heemskerk has had an art practice that revolves around large scale detailed works; offering challenges and a sense of accomplishment to her art practice. Themes of the Alberta landscape and memories of her homestead emerge through her chosen media of fibre art ceramics, and painting. Stylistically, her works are noted for their colourful vibrancy and often incorporate bands of colour of multi-textured wool in her original latch hook designs.

McCaull and Heemskerk's studio practice is based out of In-Definite Society. A large meeting place that encourage and facilitate enjoyment in the arts with people with developmental disabilities. The studio is a large friendly meeting place, brimming with vibrancy. The society fosters respect, determination, inclusion, creativity, in a celebration of the arts. The staff of practising artists instruct participants in the areas of woodworking, painting, drawing, fibre arts, ceramics, and sculpture. It is here is where the art collaboration began and flourished of friends McCaull and Heemskerk. Through the encouragement and support of In-Definite Arts, Diane McCaull and Brad Heemskerk are celebrated artists winning numerous art awards and exhibiting across Alberta, and most recently in Santa Monica California.

Inuit women have been forefront in the production and creation of prints in community print co-ops. In bringing together the Inuit women artists, Pitseolak Ashoona, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Egevadluq Ragee, Mayureak Ashoona, Kenojuak Ashevak, Ningeeuga Oshuitoq, Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq, and Pitaloosie Saila, I endeavoured to present individual artists who collectively incorporate traditions with influences of other cultures, distancing themselves from stereotypes of Inuit art and culture as being “frozen in time”.

These selected prints from the University of Lethbridge art collection are but a small sampling from the prolific Inuit women artists of Nunavut’s Baker Lake and Cape Dorset regions in Northern Canada. Of these nine Inuit women artists, I selected prints in which the artists represent themselves or women in their communities. The prints depict traditions, influences and interrelationships with outside cultures combined with their lived experiences. They also illustrate the importance of community, family, land, animals, and spiritualism, while integrating oral story telling and, at times, humour. Each artist incorporates their own unique and personal style removed from the homogeneous Inuit representations imposed by dominating cultures. Not only are these artists recognized in their own communities, but they have reached world-wide acclaim in European art galleries as well.
As a result of colonial contact, Inuit communities were pressured towards accepting commerce in addition to subsistence as a way of life. This change introduced a number of new trades to the Inuit, one of which was print-making. Inuit print shops or co-operatives first emerged in the 1950s when James Houston began teaching printmaking processes to Inuit communities. These printmaking co-ops strengthened the Inuit economy; however, in the creation and selling of prints, Houston encouraged Inuit artists to depict images representative of a culture “frozen in time”. Artists were encouraged to submit prints not only to represent images void of natural forms, but were denied the use of visual perspective or influences of Southern cultures of which they were aware. Southern tourist galleries also preferred Inuit art that represented a pre-colonial contact culture, as they sold more quickly.

Today, Inuit artists are not as restricted in their choice of style and content as they were before. As displayed in this exhibit, contemporary Inuit artists incorporate more of their own voice in their art practices and display artistic freedom in their artwork.
Located in the library on the 11th floor and the LINC building, are other works on paper and sculpture by Inuit women artists demonstrating further areas of self expression in another art form.

Gail Scheuring, Museums Studies Intern, Dept. of Art