CALL TO ACTION #83
Eight Indigenous & 8 Non-Indigenous Artists’ Quest for
Truth and Reconciliation
CATALOGUE
Table of contents
About the project ................................................................................................................................. 3
Artists & Work (Presented in the order of the project process)........................................................... 4
XAVIER FERNANDEZ .............................................................................................................. 4
MARILYN FAYE GEORGE – NAHTWEKAKATUSAKE, LAKOTA: HOLY STAR WOMAN .... 6
MARY LOUISE MEIERS .......................................................................................................... 7
PAUL WHITTAM – NEGIK, STAR OTTER............................................................................... 9
JOHN OELRICHS .................................................................................................................. 11
ROBERT HENRY – SAGAJIWEGIIZHIK, COMING FROM THE SUN ................................. 13
JENNIE CLARK ..................................................................................................................... 14
CLAYTON SAMUEL KING – WAAB SHKI MAKOONS, NEW LITTLE WHITE BEAR .......... 16
PETER ADAMS ..................................................................................................................... 18
NANCY KING – OGIMAAKWEBNES, CHIEF LADY BIRD ................................................... 19
CHRISTINA LUCK .................................................................................................................. 20
MERCEDES SANDY ............................................................................................................. 22
JOANNA MCEWEN ................................................................................................................ 23
NATHALIE BERTIN ................................................................................................................ 24
JEANETTE LUCHESE ........................................................................................................... 26
PAUL SHILLING – DAZAUNGGEE ....................................................................................... 27
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 2
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Eight Indigenous and 8 Non-Indigenous Artists’ Quest for Truth and Reconciliation
In September 2015, sixteen Simcoe County artists were inspired to initiate a {Re}conciliation
Art Project. They came together to learn from each other, share stories, gain understanding
and collaborate on a linked series of artworks.
The project is titled Call to Action #83 after the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission: “A strategy for indigenous and non-indigenous artists to undertake collaborative
projects and produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process.
The 16 artists and 4 presiding elders gathered at the homestead of Dazaunggee (lead indigenous
artist Paul Shilling). After a two-round sweat lodge ceremony and feast, the artists chose by lot the
order in which to make their works, non-indigenous artists alternating with indigenous.
The first artist, who was non-indigenous, set to work in late September and two weeks later handed
his woodcut to the first indigenous artist. As he did so, he spoke about his piece and the creative
process he went through. The second artist responded to the woodcut and in two weeks brought her
painting to the third artist, who was non-indigenous. And so the process unfolded. Each artist inspired
the next one in the quest for shared vision. The process culminated in June 2016 at Paul Shilling’s
homestead with a two-round sweat and feast, after which the artists revealed their works and told
their stories in the order that they made them.
The first piece is a woodcut depicting the Ojibway creation story of the Seven Fires, the White Buffalo
and an Eagle emerging from darkness. The next is a deeply felt painting of loss and hope for renewal.
In addition to canvases, the series includes lacework, paper cut-outs, a mixed media construction of
the medicine wheel, a large sheet of birch plywood painted and carved by a router and with a painting
of children from a residential school. A huge collage on a seven-by-seven- foot piece of canvas
depicts the wall of a residential school, on which children carved their initials, alongside figures of
suicides that emerge from a ground seemingly covered with ash and cinders. The radiant icon of a
heart berry (strawberry) inspires a diptych of powerful abstract canvases depicting the strength of
Spirit.
Each work is the creation of a unique personality, aesthetic sensibility and skilled hand yet the 16
pieces share many images -- themes that bear witness with honesty and respect to the facts of past
experience while envisioning a future toward reconciliation.
Call to Action #83 lays out a roadmap for ‘awi-niigaani-mino-wiiji-inawendiwin’
– ‘going forward together in harmony.’.
With thanks for the invaluable guidance from:
Ernestine Baldwin, Nwaatin-Kwe (Calm Water Woman), Elder, The Barrie Area.
Jeff Monague, Myiingan, former Chief of Beausoleil First Nation, Aboriginal Co-Manager of
Springwater Provincial Park.
Austin Clarkson, Director, The Milkweed Collective.
Beverly Clarkson, Author.
For more information please contact:
Mary Louise Meiers: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 3
XAVIER FERNANDES
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Hope”
Woodcut print, limited edition, 8” x 10”
$300, unframed
Statement:
It was not easy being the first artist to start this process. I felt that there was not enough time to
produce an image that would be powerful and convey my thoughts. I didn’t even know what my
thoughts were. How was I going to inspire other artists through my art? A very challenging place to be
in, for sure. It would have been easier for me to be second and create something based on someone
else’s work. The pressure made me work harder, and in the end I chose to make a wood block print,
which is not new to me. But to work on such a small scale was new.
On the way home from the sweat I was thinking about the feather and how it has two sides, two
truths, and in the middle is where they meet. The night was clouding over, and I was lucky enough to
see the full moon, blood moon, only for a moment while driving. When I got home, it was clouded over
and I was not able to see it anymore. The next few days I spent searching for ideas as I looked at the
feather and the white buffalo hair I was given, both sacred to the native people. While researching
stories and information related to truth and reconciliation, I found a story that stuck with me. I recall it
being about an Eagle flying through the crack of dawn and stopping the Creator from destroying the
Earth. The Eagle asks the Creator to let him fly over the land, and if there is smoke from one fire, then
there is hope and to let the people live. All these images of hope were in my mind. As you can see in
my print, I have darkness and the light of a full moon, an eagle flying through the crack of dawn giving
people a chance to right what is wrong. The feather and the white buffalo have great meaning and
positive energy. From my reading of stories, I found the seven fires are burning and create hope for
all mankind to choose the right path. If there is hope, we can create the world we want. Peace and
Love.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 4
XAVIER FERNANDES continued
Bio:
I graduated from Sheridan College in Interpretive Illustration in 1999. I have worked in watercolours,
oil, acrylic, gouache, charcoal, graphite, stone and metal sculpture, spray paint and printmaking. I
have shown work in various galleries and venues in Midland, Barrie, Orillia, Newmarket, and Lagoon
City. I am a founding member of Zephyr Art Gallery in Orillia, as well as a member of the Orillia
Museum of Art and History, Peter Street Fine Arts, and Quest Gallery in Midland. Currently I am
experimenting with wood block prints, including some made using a steamroller, which came about
through a fundraiser at Quest Gallery in Midland. Look for my work at Details Salon, Studio 11, and
Peter Street Fine Arts in Orillia.
tel: 1-705-321-7987
email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xavier.fernandes.796
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 5
MARILYN FAYE GEORGE – NAHTWEKAKATUSAKE,
LAKOTA: HOLY STAR WOMAN
Statement:
I have only just met Marilyn George, art maker, singer, drummer, woman of deep laughter. I
understand that she has been a painter for many years, but now arthritis slows her hand. Her small
painting was presented with both pride and humility and its story is woven into all of the work that you
will view here. Her painting was of the eagle shedding one large tear inside which stood a small
Anishinaabe family of three. The eagle is crying over the trauma that the family is experiencing from
the time of contact: the great disturbance.
A story must be told of our afternoon in the sweat lodge. If you haven’t journeyed there, I will share
that it is a deep and meaningful experience. There is magic in the dark silent moments; from the
distance we hear the beat of the drum and singing. It was a song familiar to the women that seemed
to become a mystical call and reply. The water song. Marilyn’s strong and beautiful voice,
accompanied with her drumming brought us together as she connected with those within the sacred
space and we connected with her and the first day of summer. Strawberry moon.
It seems that the call and the reply is an appropriate metaphor for this project. People of all faiths
respond to the call – how one artist called to the next with colour, form and image to weave a
narrative of truth. There is music in the art as well. We can respond to the Call to Action, one drum
beat, one heart beat at a time. J. Clark & M. Meiers
Bio:
The name Holy Star Woman was given to me by a Lakota Elder who is now in the Spirit World. The
Lakota Elder described the name: “When you look up at the clear night sky you see all the stars
shining … you see the one bright star surrounded by others … that bright star is you.” I am a selftaught designer and craftsperson who was born and raised on the Ojibwa Serpent River First Nation
reserve, one of ten children. I reside on Georgian Bay in Penetanguishene (“place of the white rolling
sands”).
As a shy three-year-old girl I first tried my hand at sewing my doll a dress when nobody was looking.
My creative interest continued, and at the age of eight or nine I learned how to loom beads. A visitor
from Wikwemikong came to the reserve and showed an interest in my work and ordered beaded
headbands for the Wiki T-Birds Hockey Team. I excelled in art during my school days, receiving
praise from teachers and school friends. Inspired by the beauty of art, I attended the White Mountain
Academy of the Arts in Elliott Lake, where I learned how to work from a holistic approach, making my
own clay, paints, snowshoes and skinned and tanned hides for drums.
Twenty-one years ago I began creating Native porcelain dolls and continue to be inspired by them
today, designing regalia from deer hide and utilizing my own beadwork designs. I was a Fancy
Dancer in the 1990s and designed my own regalia for the first time. While making the regalia I was
asked to be a Head Dancer in Kitchener-Waterloo. This is when I had a dream about a white bird and
bought some white material. I found later that my mother dreamed about a white bird that looked like
an eagle. I proceeded to create my regalia in the style of an eagle with a wing effect that was well
received. In 2000 I began a new regalia and transitioned into a Traditional Dancer. I started a
woman’s hand drum group at the Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre and continue to be involved
with my culture by volunteering in the community, offering educational workshops and participating in
Pow Wows celebrating my Native culture.
tel: 1-705-812 6414
email: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 6
MARY LOUISE MEIERS
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“The Great Responsibility: The Throwing and the Catching of the Ball of Life”
Mixed media: Felt, birch bark, Maple frame, ribbon, glass, peacock feather, embroidery thread, tin
bison conch, bison wool, 28” x 28”
Statement:
I was inspired by Marilyn George, aboriginal woman from Midland. She passed me an image that
depicted the deep fragmentation and sorrow set in motion throughout all of creation when the “Great
Disturbance” of the fracturing of the families occurred. Tears were shed by all of creation on this
continent when the First Nations Families were torn asunder by relocation, starvation, residential
schools, the Indian Act and the 60’s Scoop. I am sending you my image inspired by her work of the
Eagle’s Tears and the fractured Family.
I started this work on Oct 26 and passed it off on Nov 10. The tsunami of emotions and disturbance I
experienced in real life that week made my imagination, heart, soul, head nearly explode. So I needed
to create an image to depict the fracturing of the psyche of the individual, the family, the community,
the culture and creation ... yet contain it over time ... within relationship to the other parts of creation
and society ... on the background of the cosmos that is all connected.
So, the Red felt is the infinite heart of the Great Mystery. The Blue ribbons connect heaven and earth
and all of creation on this planet. The feather is the eagle who carries our messages to the Kind
Mystery and watches over us. The four small birch bark circles on black are the infinite universes, life
forms, individuals, societies, that are all part of this infinite Kind Creation. The center circle hoop is the
part the individual unit is responsible for. There are 13 circles in the four colors of the four directions. It
represents the passage of time ... the gift of time ... the necessity of time for genuine healing to take
place. It represents the gift of life ... of one individual life. Each circle has a small mirror flanked by
four seed beads at the four different directions. The centre has a round mirror.
When the individual (a culture, society, nation, etc) experiences ”The Great Disturbance”, the psyche
is shattered into pieces of the Self. Over a lifetime, the passage of time ... in the fullness of time ... it is
our responsibility as individuals to gather the pieces and create a Self based on Truth, Love, Respect,
Bravery, Honesty, Humility and Wisdom (the Seven Grandfathers and Grandmothers). It is the
responsibility of the Colonizer and the Colonized to awaken to this process. When this happens, and
we gaze at this circle, we see our fractured pieces and also the image of our whole Self mirrored
back. This is the Awakening ... we see flashes of it in the parts and the centre in the mirrors. But we
cannot gather all our parts without help. Desmond Tutu calls this essential relationship Umbute. It
means that we can only become human through relationship to Other. That demands love, respect,
courage, honesty, humility and wisdom (experienced over time).
There is an ancient ceremony of the First Nations that Black Elk shared. In essence it gives humanity
a vehicle to become in healthy relationship. It is the Throwing and Catching of the Ball. The Buffalo
People asked the Humans to do this for all of creation because we have hands to catch and throw the
ball. It goes something like this:
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 7
MARY LOUISE MEIERS continued
A young girl is escorted by two Elders to the centre of the circle clearing. All the people of the village
assemble in the circle. She throws a Buffalo skin ball to the East quadrant. All of life in that quadrant
has the responsibility to scurry to catch the ball. The one who catches it runs with it to a designated
“goal” spot in the far end, touches the ball to the earth and then walks it back in honour and
celebration to the young woman in the centre. She then turns to the South and repeats the process.
She then turns to the West and then the North. The young woman is the renewal of life. The woman
births the future. The entire community needs to catch the ball of life, contribute by making it real as
one touches it to the earth and then give back to the community the gift of Becoming Human through
each other in relationship. Life throws us life ... we are invited play the great game ... catch it, make it
real and pass it on. Too many times we are encouraged to be spectators rather than active
participants. Many of us have forgotten that the game is essential to all of life ... We have hands ... we
can use them to catch life and pass it on for all of creation, or we can sit on them and allow a few to
“Carry the Ball” for all of Creation.
This Hoop is the Ball. The Buffalo Nation stands at the four directions encouraging us, protecting us,
containing us. The Last three White Buffalo born in Wisconsin were named Miracle, Miracle’s Second
Chance and Fulfillment. What name will the Fourth White Buffalo carry? Harmony? If we wake up
and give our all to the Catching of the Ball ... as individuals, families, communities, nations and
members in right relationship to All of Creation ...?
The gift of life is a Miracle. Each day is a Second Chance. It is up to each individual to fulfill their
responsibility in relationship. When all the parts come together in a good way, we experience peace,
harmony and the joy of the Great Game. This is reconciliation. The Great Disturbance, The Great
Experiment, becomes the Great Game for the Future of All of Creation on this continent, earth, and
universe.
The range of feelings that the process of reconciliation demands swings from sheer grief, to sheer
terror with the promise of a new way forward based on the Seven Grandfather teachings. The end
result is peace and joy ... and the integration of the Authentic Self. Everything else falls into its proper
place to engage in the passing on of the gift of life to “All Our Relations”.
Bio:
Retired educator and life-long learner: creator.
tel: 1-705-725-9087
email: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 8
PAUL WHITTAM – NEGIK, STAR OTTER
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
Statement:
This piece is meant to be a bright representation of how we can deal with the subject of residential
schools and how to go about dealing with the subject with a good heart. The Man, the boy and the
sunset are meant to be the focal point of the piece. Let us make a painted image of the past to share
with people new to this subject. How do we deal with and teach youngsters about the past? With a
good mind.
The tree filled with the blue and red symbols represent past ceremony, games and teachings that are
being reborn and re-ignited with projects like these. Many of these traditions were lost with the
introduction of the residential schools. These traditions can be re-learned and shared to bring them
back, thus reducing the damage of residential schools on our present and future generations.
It is our responsibility to bring these lost teachings to the new generations. We have to use our inner
child mixed with the knowledge of an adult to share these lost traditions. We also have to be sensitive
and caring when talking about the damage residential schools caused while exposing the truth of
these schools.
There is much symbolism in the entire piece that can be looked at, discussed and contemplated.
There is a silhouetted degree of sadness. The overall larger image of the sun rising or setting should
be looked at as positive. The generations to come will know the legacy of these schools and the
survivors who made it through. The four directions are there to show us our life cycles and remind us
of the time in which new and different generations will have to discuss these issues surrounding
residential schools.
Bio:
My work is meant to heal through colour, shape and form. I am a self-taught artist, although I have
had some formal training through the Georgian College Art Fundamentals program and a few courses
taught through Trent University while obtaining my Indigenous Studies diploma and my honours
degree. I have had a passion for art since I was a small child and have considered it a labour of love
for many years. My own personal style is derived from that of Norval Morriseau and Daphne Odjig,
just to name a couple who I idolize. My style is a little more contemporary, utilizing bright, vibrant
colour combinations, and often I use pop culture to convey my stories. I also try to use realism in
some of my pieces. I tell stories through my work. My stories and those stories that people share with
me.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 9
PAUL WHITTAM – NEGIK, STAR OTTER continued
I have had some recent success with a full 20-piece feature show at the Ojibwa Cultural Centre on
Manitoulin Island. I also have a current smaller feature at The Canada Summit Centre in Huntsville,
Ontario. I won the people’s choice award at my local hometown gallery, The Midland Cultural Centre.
I was recently featured by the CBC in a story how I found my birth mother after 30-plus years through
the use of traditional healers.
I feel that all of these wonderful events and opportunities are generating some amazing things within
myself that allow me to create my energetic dynamic pieces, and I am thankful to the Creator for my
gifts.
“I want to make paintings full of colour, laughter, compassion and love. I want to make paintings that
will make people happy, that will change the course of people’s lives. If I can that, I can paint for a
hundred years.” Norval Morriseau
Baamaapii.
Negik – Star Otter
tel: 1-705-433-1274
email: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 10
JOHN OELRICHS
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Different Together”
Oil on Panel, 30” x 40”
Statement:
Before we initiated the project and before starting my own piece I did some reading as a way of
lowering myself into the context. This felt like a part of the gathering in. Then when I received Negik’s
work, after spending some time talking with him about it, I simply spent time sitting with the work and
taking it in. My initial response was with sound made while looking at the work. I recorded these
sounds and then played them back while I made my initial painted marks in response to the sounds.
So sound became an intermediary between the two visual images allowing space for the intuitive.
Those first marks were abstract, gestural and expressive. They did not represent things as such. I did
however want to move in the direction of representational, possibly symbolic imagery, inspired by
Negik’s approach. These images began to emerge as if of their own volition from the shapes, lines
and colours that had initially arrived in my own painting. A process of making and refining then took
off from there. Occasionally during this I would replay the sound recording that I initially made and this
served to reconnect me with Negik’s piece.
In considering my approach I wanted to come up with a way that allowed a multidisciplinary artsbased response to the many and complex issues involved in the reconciliation process. And I was
very aware that I did not begin to understand what reconciliation is or how you do it. Trusting that the
realm of the imagination draws both on intuitive ways of being as well as conscious rational
understanding I felt that the image should be at the centre of what I did and that it would provide a
synthesizing force. Synthesis and reconciliation seemed like they might be similar and compatible
impulses – a weaving together of difference. This honoring of the image was reaffirmed by what I
heard and experienced in our initial sweat lodge. I wanted this to be a spiritual journey and one that
could connect as fully as possible with the artists who preceded and followed me in the process and
with all that had informed the larger Truth and Reconciliation process. This seemed to call for a
gathering in and then a letting go.
When the painting seemed finished the final step was to write a poem that drew both on the visual
experience as well as reflections on the intangible process of making the work as sources of possible
insight with respect to the act of reconciliation. The poem and painting were then passed on to
Robert, the artist who followed me.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 11
JOHN OELRICHS continued
“How the arrival of this image and its process
spoke to me about reconciliation”
Like water you flow from stillness. You can reveal what lies underneath and what is
reflected in you. You find your own way, and your own level.
You dance like light, make things visible, and cast shadows. You are sometimes sharp
and defining, sometimes soft like a blanket at twilight.
You come to us when we move slowly, with care, and respect and no fear of collision.
You are there when we sit in circle, in silence, in imagining, in speaking true, in
hearing the other.
You show in the loose weave of a garden fence that while containing us gives
glimpses of what it is to be inside or outside and of past and future.
You live in the white space of a David Milne painting, which shimmers with beauty and
gives room to breathe and is nature inside us.
You have the sweetness of sage and roses and peonies and cedar, all.
You are found where orange and gold touch turquoise such that they hum together.
You are in each single note which seeks harmony and which also delights in the spice
of dissonance.
You are there where many rhythms live together, meet and part and meet again,
each dancing around the one heartbeat we all share.
You will appear when Ottawa tilts, when government and management are
subordinate to what is right and just and when apology becomes restitution.
And when we come to know that our legs and arms are as one then we can walk
together
And we can walk with all the beings of air, land, water and ice and our spirits can
soar.
Bio:
Jon Oelrichs is a painter living and working in Oro Medonte Township. The seriousness of his practice
has steadily increased over the last thirty some years. He studied drawing, and painting at Georgian
College and with several other individual painters. His first passion is painting and his preferred
medium is oil. His approach to painting is also influenced by studies in the expressive arts.
tel: 1-705-835-5844
email: [email protected]
website: www.jonoelrichs.ca
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 12
ROBERT HENRY – SAGAJIWEGIIZHIK, COMING FROM THE SUN
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
Statement
Bio
tel: 1-705-309-1242
email: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 13
JENNIE CLARK
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“The Healing Dress” – “Missing”
Diptych, each panel 28” x 30”
Block print, paper assemblage
NFS
Statement:
It is hard to write about this project, as there is so much that I really don’t know.
I met with Rob at his home, and he shared his painting of a “Jingle Dancer” with me. He explained
colours and symbols and played a recording of a song he composed to accompany the work. He
showed me a drum he had made and stained with berries. And so the New Year began with Robert’s
painting on my studio wall, a week of reading, daily sage cleansing (to the best of my ability),
preparing my space to create, and then the daily work.
During that time I read an account of a woman who as a young girl was sent to a residential school.
Her aunties and mother made her a new dress of which she was very proud. They lovingly braided
her hair and she went forward on this frightening adventure. When she arrived at the school, her
dress was taken and burned and her hair was cut off, a painful loss of pride and identity. I cried as I
read the story.
Robert’s painting of the Jingle Dancer refers to healing feminine energies, and so I was inspired to
create a Healing Dress for a child. It is made of red paper, block printed with simple hand carved
designs of the traditional healing herbs – cedar, sage, tobacco and sweet grass – printed in yellowgold ink. When I cut the positive shape of the circle and the dress out of the printed red paper, a
negative shape remained which became the absent dress, symbolizing the lost child. The layers of
paper are sewn with invisible threads together to the leaf paper, which is representative of fallen
leaves, detritus and earth. Shell buttons are traditional closures made from abalone and mother of
pearl, and each button represents an artist in the circle. In this work I view the buttons as symbols of
water (life). As they reflect light in rainbows, they are also positive and hopeful signs. The large
buttons at the “throat” represent the voice – turquoise for healing and black for loss and pain. The
colours and shapes in my work also have symbolic meaning.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 14
JENNIE CLARK continued
The black ground is bible paper used in the flysheets of bible construction. It represents the “black
robes” of the church and foreign authority. The circle stitching is bold with heavy thread but remains
unfinished, which represents the task ahead – listening and understanding. I then met with Clayton
King to pass the feather.
Every element of this artwork has taken on greater meaning as I listen and learn. I am grateful for the
privilege of working on this project and thank everyone in the circle for sharing their creativity and
insights. To me this project represents working in harmony and sharing a narrative that is difficult,
challenging and invaluable, leading to a hopeful future of mutual respect and most of all friendship.
Bio:
I am an active visual artist, art educator, student of natural science, a member of the professional
artists’ collective, “Gallery 111,” Barrie, and currently curator of the pop-up gallery, “Summer in the
City”, Toronto.
I worked professionally as a graphic designer, art director and illustrator for twenty years following
graduation with honours from Ontario College of Art (now OCADU). In 2006 I expanded my
knowledge of contemporary art practices and graduated with honours from Georgian College
Advanced Fine Art program, receiving awards for printmaking and sculpture. My imagery is inspired
by natural phenomena and an innate connectivity to the natural world, often revealed through layering
and use of organic materials.
My work was included in an exhibition of printmaking at Joshibi University of Art and Design, Japan
2006, at the De Gravura do Douro 2012, in Portugal and at the University of Belgrade in 2013. I have
created site-specific artworks and outdoor installations for MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie and for the city
of Markham. My work is in many private collections in Canada, United States, Portugal and Great
Britain.
I am the originator of the Simcoe Watershed Art Project, an artist collective focused on bringing artists
together to express their interest in the beauty, diversity and concern for the lands and waters
encircling Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching. The group is currently in the process of generating a
collaborative exhibition with Orillia Museum of Art and History and Lakehead University, entitled
“watershedsci”.
She offers watercolour and printmaking workshops and classes and has enjoyed presenting at the
MacLaren Art Centrem Barrie Art Club, Quest Gallery, Mid-and, the Town of Innisfil and Orillia
Museum of Art and History.
Tel: 1-705-503-3467
email: [email protected]
www.jennieclarkprints.com
www.simcoewatershedartproject.com
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 15
CLAYTON SAMUEL KING – WAAB SHKI MAKOONS, NEW LITTLE WHITE BEAR
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“G'chi Manidoo Giizis (Big Spirit Moon)”
Acrylic on canvas, 20" x 25"
2016
Statement:
In a time long ago, there was a group of wondering Anishinaabek travelling about from place to place
in search of game. The group stopped along a steep cliff side. The hunters of the group were
preparing to go and search for food, while the rest stayed behind. The old medicine man of the group
had noticed a spring nearby along the rock face. In the pool of the spring he noticed a sturgeon
swimming in it. He discussed this sturgeon with the elders and said that this sturgeon was not to be
eaten. Before leaving on their hunting expedition, the chief and the elders had instructed the people
not to eat this fish. When the Chief and hunters came back to the people with their game, they noticed
that the people were not people at all anymore. Someone had cooked the sturgeon up and all the
people had joined in the feast. The Chief and hunters had seen that their relatives had been
transformed into Nme (sturgeon) and were flopping around on the ground, trying to make for the
water of the spring. Some were fully transformed as Nme, while some were half Nme and half
Anishinaabe. Being sad at what had happened, they chief and hunters took them to the spring so they
would survive. This is the origin story of the mermaid/merman clan of the Anishinaabek, or Nibinabe
Doodem.
These water spirits are protectors of the water, for it is a sacred medicine. This painting depicts a
nibinabe kwe shining in the moon light of G'chi Manidoo or the Big Spirit Moon. It is during this moon
phase that the power of Nookmis's light purifies us and helps heal all creation. This process of healing
can take a few days or a few months. Just like any healing journey, patience is always required. It is
during this time that we find out about the healing powers of the spirit world. It is these powers that
help transform our way of life into a positive for our own vision and truth, just like the mermaid and the
water.
Bio:
Born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario, I am of Potawatomi descent and a member of Beausoleil
First Nation. I have been a resident of Barrie, Ontario since the fall of 2011. In April 2010 I graduated
with a Fine Art Advanced Diploma from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. I paint predominantly
with acrylics, but also work in photography, sculpture, graphite and traditional First Nation crafts. I
perform as a Northern Traditional Pow Wow Dancer. My work has been displayed in three solo
exhibitions and 22 selected group exhibitions. I contribute to the education sector in Simcoe County
by giving First Nations painting and cultural interpretive workshops that help bridge an understanding
of First Nations art and history to native and non- native students alike.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 16
CLAYTON SAMUEL KING – WAAB SHKI MAKOONS, NEW LITTLE WHITE BEAR continued
The common themes in my work arise from my Indigenous cultural background. They are highly
influenced by the Professional Native Indian Artist Incorporated (three generations of Woodland
School artists) and the sublime of nature. I do my best to interpret the knowledge that has been
bestowed upon me to help sustain Anishinaabek culture and history through several artistic practices.
I have begun recently to work and experiment with visible and invisible ultraviolet luminescent paint.
Working in the dark is different, but the advantage of this new medium helps to heighten the spectral
and metaphysical aesthetic I want to produce for the viewer. This medium is new to the Woodland Art
Style.
White Bear Art, Barrie, Ontario
tel: 1-705-812-3839; cell 1-705-500-2327
email: [email protected]
website: http://www.whitebearart.com/
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 17
PETER ADAMS
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Cultural Excavation”
Mixed media on birch plywood, 40"x40"
$1800
Statement:
This piece was inspired in part by a trip to British Columbia in the fall of 2015. I visited a site that had
many petroglyphs carved in the stone underfoot. They were scattered over a large area, partly
obscured by foliage and leaves. I wondered how much was still covered that hadn’t been viewed for
hundreds of years. Not too much was known about these carvings, their significance, or why this site
was chosen. There were also a few locations where someone had carved their initials in the soft
stone in much more recent times. It made me think a lot about how fragile cultural memory can
be. How fleeting and transient the memory of an individual, or a family, or a community can
be. Perhaps there are entire cultures whose existence is completely unknown to modern peoples.
I chose to use a router on birch plywood because I was thinking about this idea of cultural excavation,
about trying to recover memories, recover history, meaning and truth after much time has passed. I've
painted fragments of the petroglyphs on the surface of the plywood. The excavation reveals hints of a
buried, forgotten or oppressed history. Most significantly I chose to incorporate a group portrait from
a residential school in British Columbia.
Bio:
I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and has lived most of his life in Toronto. I have a degree in Film
Studies from Queen's University, but I now direct all my creative energy toward painting. Since
moving to a farm near Creemore in 1998, I have spent many years exploring the surrounding
landscape – and the ever-changing human relationship with landscape. I am especially interested in
the realm in which human and natural worlds meet – both in harmony and in opposition. An oil
painter for 25 years, my most recent work is marked by a transition to mixed media. Combining conte,
acrylic washes, paint markers, oil sticks and oil paint, these works have opened up many new
expressive possibilities. My work is exhibited in many galleries in Ontario and can be found in many
private and public collections in North America and abroad.
tel: 1-705-888-6712
email: [email protected]
website: www.peteradamsart.com
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 18
NANCY KING – OGIMAAKWEBNES, CHIEF LADY BIRD
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Violence Against The Land is Violence Against Our Women”
Mixed media on canvas, 18” x 24”
Statement:
When we think about Truth and Reconciliation the first narratives that come to mind are directly
connected to residential schools and the notion of cultural genocide. Collectively, we can recognize
that the Truth and Reconciliation commission is about establishing and maintaining a mutually
respectful relationship between Indigenous and non­Indigenous people through acknowledgement of
the past and the ability to take action to heal our nations and prepare for a better future. For me, the
idea of learning from our past to restore the future encompasses Indigenous futurisms, Indigenous
feminism, and the 7 Generations teaching.
The trauma that has been inflicted ripples through our nations; the intergenerational effects are very
present, through our loss of languages; the violence that is directed at our sisters as the number of
missing and murdered Indigenous women continues to grow; and the sense of hopelessness within
our youth that causes them to rationalize that suicide is the only answer. These, among countless
other things, are the repercussions of cultural genocide and we are at a point in our society where it is
time to seek unity and work together to heal.
For my response to this project, I zoned in on the concept of cultural excavation, which was very
evident in the piece that Peter Adams created. I thought about how we are not above nature, rather
we are a part of it. Humans have disrespected our mother earth through the excavation and
ownership of the land. I remember watching a video of Lee Maracle in 2012 wherein she discusses
the fact that violence against the land is directly related to the violence that is happening against our
women through a disconnection from ancient knowledge and blood memory; the settlers who came to
this continent have been disconnected from their traditional landscapes and through assimilation
tactics, have attempted to sever our connections as well. It will be integral to our future that we
re­establish our relationship with the land and our teachings.
According to Diné writer Lindsey Catherine Cornum, Indigenous Futurism is a movement that
continuously re­hashes narratives of 'the final frontier,' and explores the notion of bringing our
traditions with us into the future instead of leaving them in the past. My piece depicts a fancy shawl
dancer praying in front of smoke­stacks, the pollution floating up into a starry sky. This image directly
plays into Indigenous futurism and our seven generations teaching because we must consider how
our actions now are going to affect the generations to come; we are borrowing this land from our
children.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 19
NANCY KING – OGIMAAKWEBNES, CHIEF LADY BIRD continued
The beaded glyphs floating through the sky symbolize a language that I do not have as a result of
Canada’s assimilation tactics. The beaded glyphs are fragments of visual language that reference
wampum belts, syllabics and petroglyphs: pieces of visual language that have served as stories and
treaties. The glyphs are nonsensical but they imply that they hold meaning; they convince the viewer
that they should mean something and create tension and frustration between the work and viewer, to
emulate the frustration that many Indigenous nations feel who aren’t able to speak their traditional
languages.
It is integral to our healing journey and our future that we reclaim our relationship to the land, our
culture and our language.
Chi miigwech.
Bio:
I am a First Nations (Potawatomi and Chippewa) artist from Rama First Nation with paternal ties to
Moosedeer Point First Nation. MY Anishinaabe name is Ogimaakwebnes, which means Chief Lady
Bird. i completed my BFA in 2015 in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Indigenous Visual Culture
at OCAD University. I have been exhibiting my work since I was fourteen years old.
Through my art practice I look to the past (both historically and traditionally) to help navigate my
Anishinaabe identity whilst living in an urban space. My art also advocates for Indigenous
representation as an integral aspect of Canada's national identity. I address the complexity of identity
and the resilience of Indigenous nations, specifically through a feminist lens, through the use of
contemporary painting techniques, Woodlands style imagery, photography, digital manipulation and
beadwork.
My current series of works employs “beaded glyphs” as fragments of made up visual language. The
glyphs reference wampum belts (beaded visual treaties), syllabics and petroglyphs as a way of
understanding the loss of language and culture through Canada’s cultural genocide. These beaded
glyphs convince the viewer that they mean something. The tension and frustration that they create
between the work and the viewer emulate the frustration that many Indigenous nations feel who aren’t
fluent in their traditional languages.
I also work with at-risk Native youth at the Native Learning Centre to share artistic knowledge and
skills and provide a safe space for youth to create and express themselves. I am on the Aboriginal
Artist list NAC10 of the Toronto District School Board and am a resource artist for many schools
across the Greater Toronto Area, teaching students about Native art and providing a contemporary
context. In addition, I work as a muralist and often uses my murals as a teaching tool, emphasizing
the impact that visual culture has on people's everyday lives.
email: [email protected]
instagram: @chiefladybird
website: www.chiefladybirdart.tumblr.com
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 20
CHRISTINA LUCK
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Cure For Sinus”
Acrylic on panel, paper, linen thread, 48”x 36”
2016
$2,800.00
Statement:
The sage in the medicine box started me thinking about the women on my father’s side, especially my
grandmother, who used sage to make a rinse for the hair. I found the Sinus Cure in a book of
handwritten recipes amongst Aunt Muriel’s things from the old Luck farm at Crown Hill, Ontario. Some
of the recipes like this one are clearly very old, perhaps copied from her mother’s or grandmother’s
cookbooks, although I think this actual page was written by her in the 1920s.
Bloodroot, native to Northeast North America, is used traditionally in many ways, including a beautiful
dye and several kinds of remedies. Bloodroot was at our old house, and I remember the colour of the
sap on my hands if I pulled it up. This cure may have been shared amongst the settlers, but its
original source must be from Indigenous knowledge. My work refers to the devaluing and loss of that
knowledge and skill. The scratched-in cursive writing and lines could indicate a schoolbook or a
chalkboard. Dark splatters in the sky make me think of ink. The paper fringe was inspired by the
fringes on the shawls of Fancy Shawl Dancers.
I wanted to have something in my work that would move, and since the Fancy Shawl Dance suggests
transformation the fringe seems an apt metaphor for the movement needed away from the
intransigent positions taken by many. Finally, the night sky and narrow strip of green at the bottom of
the panel refer to a dream my sister had at age ten, a powerful dream that stayed with her through her
life. Standing at the edge of the world looking into the night sky, she felt exhilarated. She later
interpreted this as looking forward to an exciting future, a hope all children are surely entitled to. Sadly
I read another headline of suicides in a Native community.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 21
CHRISTINA LUCK continued
Bio:
I earned a B.F.A. degree in Visual Arts from York University and am a painter and sculptor with a
studio in Cookstown, Ontario. My paintings, sculpture and self-published picture books place the
people and objects of ordinary life in a buoyant new world of imagination. My most recent solo
exhibition was The Big Picture (2015), a series of intimate still-life paintings at the David Kaye Gallery,
Toronto. I am currently working towards The Dog Show and Other Conversations, an exhibition with
Gail Esau at Double Door Gallery, Anten Mills, Sept 17- Oct 2, 2016.
For eight years I was principal set designer for South Simcoe Theatre, and am producing Four Play,
an annual event that showcases new writing for the stage. For Cookstown’s annual Wing Ding in June
I organize with artist Maggie Grace the Cookstown Creative Chair Challenge and Cookstown Mystery
Mural. In 2014 I implemented with artists Gail Esau and Maggie Grace a large community mural for
the Georgian Bay Steam Show. Since the early 1980s I have shown my work at numerous public and
commercial galleries, including Leo Kamen, Prime Gallery, MacLaren Art Centre, Lafreniere & Pai
and David Kaye Gallery. My work art is in the collections of CIBC, Four Seasons Hotels, Labatt’s,
Trimark, DFAIT, Canada Council Art Bank and many others. I teach art to all ages at the MacLaren
Art Centre in Barrie.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 22
MERCEDES SANDY
(Photo credit: Jennie Clark)
“Unnamed"
Mixed media collage on canvas, 60” x 84”
Statement:
For a very long time three people walked the Earth. They were known by many things. For now they
are called the Three Generations. They lived in harmony for many years as they journeyed across this
Earth. Along the way each experienced hardship. The first lost their face, the second lost their voice,
and the last lost their sight. With the loss of their senses and identities they became separated from
one another. As they struggle, the three generations continue to regain what they have lost and to
come back together as one. To once again live in harmony. But it is a long journey and a rough road
ahead. It starts with us taking the first step as child, parent and grandparent to reconnect as a people.
And to know the hardships that we have experienced in the past and learn from them to create a
better future, to not allow the past to define us as a people.
Bio:
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 23
JOANNA MCEWEN
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
1. “Untitled”
Hand made Torchon lace with added beadwork, 12" x 12"
Prints available.
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
2. ”Heart Berries”
Oil on paneled canvas, 30" x 40"
$400.00
Statement:
The story Mercedes related about her personal relationship to the Brantford residential school and the
children who carved their names into the bricks moved me to create an image of hope! The heart
berries are thriving; two ravens suggested themselves quite unexpectedly! The handmade Torchon
(French) bobbin lace represents the first major contact culture and honours our Métis. It was a tedious
exercise in patience, and I had to do it twice. The working interrelationships of two cultures (as seen
in this piece) offer enrichment and hope!
Bio:
I was born Joanna Aegidius Andersen in Parry Sound, Ontario in 1941. I am married to Peter
McEwen, co- parent of three wonderful children, Sara, Ian and Joel, grandmother of Fiona,
Samantha, Kelton and Thomas, and adopted Gigi to Emily and Grant. I am moderately fit and
passionately interested in life, learning and making art. A considerable portion of my work is a record
of select historical phenomena marking place, particularly the domestic mappings of place made by
rural folk. I am particularly moved to record the banal of the daily tasks completed by the hand, most
often conditioned mechanical acts made by women as markers of place. The mystery of the creative
process, which I am compelled by nature to bring to the non-art community, also fuels my work. A
maker by trade, I am totally immersed in my materials and their particular physical properties. My
most recent projects include a 52-work series featuring abandoned small rural church interiors; an
investigation of disappearing rural fencerows; and a continuing series looking at aged and aging
women.
tel: 1-705-835-6089
email: [email protected]
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 24
NATHALIE BERTIN
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Reconciliation”
Mixed media on canvas, 10”x10”
Artist catalogue: 16-016
May, 2016
Statement:
When Mary Lou invited me to be a part of this project back in December 2015, I thought I had a clear
idea of what I was going to create. A few months went by, and I met Joanna who was passing her
work on to me. I saw it in progress and read her statement. And then a shift occurred. I couldn’t do my
initial idea anymore. It’s not that I had a wrong idea of what reconciliation was about, but it would have
been too jarring. It would have interrupted the flow of ideas that was occurring among the group. I had
to set my own ego aside and think about the group and the process. And something Joanna had
written in her statement stuck with me:
“The strawberries have significance to first nations in this area … first fruit ... healing powers, and
so on and so forth.”
Was it really that simple? From among the scenery, the decaying building and everything else going
on in Joanna’s painting, the strawberries struck an essential chord.
As Jeannette noted when I revealed my work to her, I explored the core of reconciliation. I decided to
go for pure simplicity and direct focus on the wild strawberry because, as a symbol of reconciliation, it
is a clear representation of meaning. I simply placed it on a gold background to showcase it as the
“gem” I feel it is. To me the wild strawberry represents the core of what reconciliation is all about.
True reconciliation is more than just the treaties; it’s also about the people, the land, the environment
and the next seven generations. A strawberry needs sun, water and soil to grow a nourishing fruit.
The strawberry is tiny but it packs a whole lot of flavour and vitamins. As Joanna noted, it is the first
fruit of the season. True reconciliation needs more than just an apology. An apology is a first step.
Reconciliation may seem like an insignificant idea, but it has far-reaching consequences. If the
strawberry doesn’t grow, we cannot nourish ourselves. Without reconciliation we will not be able to
heal our peoples. True reconciliation needs to be tended to, needs to be nourished in order for
reconciliation to provide nourishment to those who need it. Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit across
Canada cherish the wild strawberry and use it to give thanks to others they have benefited from
because of its nourishing properties. Like the wild strawberry, true reconciliation seems like a such
small thing – insignificant even – but it can work wonders to help bridge gaps between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous communities, to fuel our common journey toward the future together in a healthy,
sustainable way.
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 25
NATHALIE BERTIN continued
Bio:
I was born in Toronto in 1969. After working as a graphic designer for several years, I began showing
my art publicly in 2009. I now work as a multi-disciplinary artist. I am more concerned about
expressing feelings about my subject matter than recreating a technically realistic representation. I am
fond of strong shapes and textures, and my style is often described as luminescent, energetic, bold
and colourful. I often incorporate elements of my French and Algonquin heritage in concepts that
blend the two cultures.
In 2015 I began an exploration of themes related to genetics and DNA. Some of these can be seen in
works that honour my ancestral mothers. Art is a method of enquiry. It has allowed me to delve deeply
into my identity. When I mix art with science, things become especially fascinating and exciting! In
conjunction with cultural identity my connection to the land is a common subject, since it supports me
physically and spiritually. I am inspired by my divergent cultures. One of my goals is to explore how
my cultural connections and lifestyle interact with the natural environment that I live in and vice versa.
A consistent theme of my work explores my life experience as a subsistence hunter.
Finally, a few of my projects were inspired from traditional storytelling and folk tales. Some of these
have been reproduced by the Royal Canadian Mint on collector coins for release in 2013, 2014 and
2015. In June 2010 I was selected as an artist ambassador for the G20 Summit in Toronto, a
volunteer position that garnered global media attention for Canadian artists from Muskoka. My work
can be found in collections of the Government of Manitoba, Government of Alberta, corporate
organizations and private collectors across Canada, the USA, Europe and Africa.
website: www.nathaliebertin.com
email: [email protected]
tel: 905-868-8372
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 26
JEANETTE LUCHESE
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“Truth Nothing but the Truth”
Diptych, acrylic, graphite on canvas, 30” x 60”
Statement:
Creating is an intuitive process. Everything in and around me finds a voice in what I create. This piece
is very much a product of not only the ‘Wildfire’ process, but as well many, many things, some difficult
to speak of, but all needing a voice.
I was very fortunate that Nathalie Bertin took the time to stay and visit when she dropped off her
piece, which gave us an opportunity to get to know each other a little bit. She shared her thoughts and
motivations for her piece, a wonderful “Wild Strawberry.” Through all her words and in looking at her
piece, there was a heaviness that arose from her need to make important what was at the core of
Truth and Reconciliation. Armed with that reflection and a photo of her piece, I set off. What I didn't
realize was the impact of that week’s news articles and discussions with friends that tore at my mind
and heart ... the suicide stories of First Nation children: those that had to leave their small
communities just to gain an education, transplanted to large cities, overwhelmed by it all, they found
the act of suicide was their only solution; the unfathomable situation of the children of Attawapiskat
under 'suicide watch'; the movement in Nova Scotia to remove Edward Cornwallis's statue from a
prominent location in the city and the efforts to ‘tell the truth’ of the settlement of Nova Scotia ... to
some considered ‘Unceded Lands’. The fact that Cornwallis initiated a scalping proclamation caused
me to sense the extent of genocide at that time.
Throughout the process, the photo of Nathalie’s piece lived on the wall next to my panels. I opened
myself up to whatever was to come and intuitively let happen all that wanted to happen. What rings
true to me, and what I hope you can sense in my piece, is the strength of a people, despite continued
efforts even today, whose spirit could not be defeated. It lives on, grows and beats stronger. It is this, I
believe, that my work speaks of – the necessity to see/tell/experience the truth, the truth of the past,
the truth of the present and recognize a people’s spirit that will always be strong. In this spirit we will
find our hope that will move hearts and bring about the positive change needed for Truth and
Reconciliation.
Bio:
I am an Italian-Canadian and reside in Innisfil, Ontario. I attended the Graduate School of Design and
Visual Art, Georgian College, and the School of Design, Sheridan College. My practice is an inquiry
into a state of being and I create within the disciplines of drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture,
poetry and, when so moved, in sound. My work has been exhibited internationally.
tel: 1-705-436-7607
email: [email protected]
www.jeanetteluchesestudio.com
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 27
PAUL SHILLING – DAZAUNGGEE
(Photo credit: Extreme Imaging)
“End of Oppression”
Oil on canvas, 24” x “30”
$3,000
Statement:
I have been haunted by faces since my early childhood – faces of the living, of the dying, and of
rebirth. I see the many masks and layers of these faces, but I am fascinated with what is actually
underneath. Most of our faces are cover-ups, well trained to conceal a lifetime of pain, shame and
guilt. The masks universally are all the same, yet what is underneath is utterly unique and seeks
expression. The many personas that we create keep us from knowing who we really are. Energy goes
into self-protection and self-denial instead of self-liberation. The child, the adult, the elder all live
simultaneously inside of us and are wrapped in the blanket of our spirit. But their voices are muted,
their cries for recognition unheard. Yet still the indestructible spirit seeks to emerge, to be felt, heard
and seen. There are few who can actually show their true self.
For me painting is a medium for healing, for celebrating the spirit, and it is a gift. It is an opportunity to
explore and understand myself and my place and relationship within the circle of creation. As an
aboriginal man I feel the need to shed the image that was taught to me as a child – that I was
undesirable, shameful, unworthy. This continual redefinition, the questioning and searching, keeps my
work alive, seeking to shed the old self and invite the new and ever-changing self. As I express
myself, I heals myself; the inner voice and the inner eye clear and open for the energy of the image
to move through me from “the great house of invention”. This is the manifest vision from the sky
world that springs to life in the painting.
There are many bundles that we talk about – the pipe, the drum, the rattle, medicines, and our
children. Those are all sacred. But I believe the mot sacred bundle of all is the little girl and little boy
that lives inside of us. So the healing begins, the brushes begin to move, eyes begin to open, the fire
is rekindled and the new self arises. Heal the child within and life becomes sacred. Living begins to
mean something again. I’m seeking to heal, to know joy again and to express the true self.
Bio:
Born in 1953 in Rama, Ontario, I attended art studies at Georgian College in the early 1990s, but I am
primarily self-taught and informed through my life experience.
tel: 1-705-689-4889
email: [email protected]
website: www.paulshilling.ca
Call to Action #83 CATALOGUE | 28