CrossRoads, Installation view @ Urban Shaman, Winnipeg, Canada
For a number of years Souliere has been working with materials relating to driving. As the term implies Cross Roads are often places that intersect, and it is here in the title of this exhibition that Souliere brings together two places of importance to her: Canada and Australia. For over a decade, she has driven past a ‘wooden Indian’ or a ‘cigar store Indian’ statue standing outside Fantastic Furniture in Sydney, Australia. With each passing Souliere would smile and wave to this ‘wooden’ statue that is supposedly to be in the likeness of a Native American.
The photograph of the ‘wooden Indian’ has become the subject of Souliere’s collages and is a nod to her First Nation ancestry as well as to Hermann Rorschach and his psychology tests. The collages combine the doubling, or mirroring of the heavily patterned wooden Indian image with abstract forms cut from the design magazine Wallpaper. The collages are both figurative and abstract. When positioned with the hand cut road signs( whose patterns are derived and abstracted from First Nation motifs,) they provide an eclectic and texturally diverse pathway to the free standing sculptures and wall paintings.
The sculptures utilize assisted readymades such as safety road vests and street barrier tape to create bold patterns and order based on arrangement of colour, and placement within the space. As an installation these works explore the associative qualities of materials with abstract forms that act as conduits of cultural memory, representation and experience.
The Wooden Indian from Wagga Wagga series, 2011, collage on 300gsm Fabriano paper, 1 of 15, 65cm x 35cm approx.
The Wooden Indian from Wagga Wagga series, 201, collage on 300 gsm Fabriano paper, 2 of 15, 65 x 35cm approx.
The Wooden Indian from Wagga Wagga Series, 2011, 12 of 15, 300 gsm Fabriano paper, 65cm x 70cm approx,
Point of Origin, 2008-11, installation view @ SCA Galleries, mixed media, 2m x 2mx 2m
Platform A, 2010, Installation view @ SCA Galleries, mixed media, 2mx3mx2.5m approx.
I am Just not that good at following Directions, 2010, mixed media
Installation view The New Gallery, Calgary
Platform, 2008, front view
Street barriers, mirror, reflective material , mirrors, plinths, metal, clamps
Dimensions variable
Platform, 2008 finds content in various areas of enquiry: for example, Indigenous art; architecture; and in the legacies of art history, predominantly modernism via abstract art. The pseudo structure with its emphasis on vivid colour and line provides an ideal arena to engage in a conversation surrounding the synthesis of my artistic interests and concerns.
Plinths are covered in flowing abstract patterns that forms the base for the pseudo structure. Whereas the street barriers have a mirror image on each side that can be seen as depicting the doubling characteristic found in traditional Northwest Coast Native art and abstract painting. The mirror strengthens this notion and make its more predominate to the human eye. The placement of abstracted Indigenous patterns on the barriers disconnects the common visual language of construction development via government regulations generally associated with such materials in western society. In its place abstracted imagery becomes the signifier thereby opening up the context to bring into existence a collective and contemporary style where ideas/concerns about abstraction, modernism, indigenous social and political issues are made visible to an audience.
In this installation I am interested in how street barriers covered with abstract patterns derived from traditional First Nation patterns can express ideas /concerns and become a form of signification through the participation of a process. Process in this context refers to both the process of art making and government bureaucracy. The juxtaposition of Indigenous imagery and construction materials are used to form a communication code where meaning is visually inscribed. The basic geometric patterns, particularly the uni directional lines, found on standard street barriers (and traffic signs) triggered a visual connection to my cultural heritage. For example, geometric designs are evident in traditional First Nation beadwork and the use of traditional Indigenous colours of red, black, white and yellow are often used (although in combinations thereof) on standard street barriers and traffic signage.
The placement of the street barriers in a downward sloping manner can be interpreted as a sign to dismantle, dissuade, or disrupt Government intervention into Aboriginal affairs. At the time of making this artwork, in Australia, the Howard government (September 2007) implemented an Aboriginal Intervention Policy that was aimed at the wellbeing and protection of Aboriginal children as large cases of abuse were reported. The intervention policy was controversial particularly because the policy permitted income quarantine provisions on Aboriginal people’s income.
Connections/Disconnections, 2007, street barriers, reflective sheeting, y frames. Dimensions 3m x 3m approximately.
Such a controversial issue led me to think of other related indigenous issues, particularly in Canada. It is here I began thinking about the barriers and their standard stance. The placement of the street barriers in a non upright position can be seen as a gesture that indicates First Nation people are not subject to a conforming structure, like the ‘Indian Act’. (The Indian Act was implemented in 1850 where the Canadian federal government enacted legislation to define and determine the Indian status and band membership. It clearly was disadvantageous to Indigenous people. Amendments to the Indian Act have been made and have significantly changed the ways in which status and membership have been determined .
The placement of an abstract painting on the wall and again on a free standing construction sign can be viewed as addressing ideas on the suspension of painting in contemporary art. However, what it also can be viewed as the identifying and marking of Indigenous territory. Land claims have been one of the main social and political issues of Indigenous people. In January 2008, a referendum on the proposed boundary claim settlement between Canada, Ontario and Michipicoten First Nation (the nation I am a member) of will take place. The claim dates as far back as 1853. The reserve promised to Michipicoten First Nation in 1853 was actually larger than the land surveyed. If the referendum is successful, it will be a significant moment for First Nation people as not only will the land be added back to Michipicoten First Nation but also a large financial compensation will be provided. The settlement claim will be the second largest land claim settlement paid out in Canadian history.
The use of abstracted Northwest coast Native art design and patterns (particularly the dominant shape of the ovoid) provide the connection to Indigenous culture. First Nation artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun wrote a manifesto on the ovoid and uses it in his art to address the social issues that concern him most, such as, First Nation identity, Aboriginal land claims and environmental destruction.
My favourite legend is ‘The Thunderbirds.’ Thunderbirds in Anishinabek mythology are fantastical creatures that reside in the Skyworld and are seen as responsible for the thunderstorms we hear as they create thunder and lightning. The thunderous sound heard in the midst of a storm is the flapping of their enormous almighty wings and the lightning is the flashing of their brightly lit eyes. There are two types of Thunderbirds, one good and the other evil. Young thunderbirds can also be evil as they can be unpredictable and highly volatile due to their immaturity. The first time I saw Ahmoo Angeconeb etching ‘Thunderbirds in the Metro’ (1984) I laughed and immediately thought they are everywhere, even in the public transport system!
It is known in our culture that Thunderbirds are drawn to shiny objects, so to avoid attracting the Binessiwag (a Thunderbird in Anishinabe language) to one’s home all shiny objects are to be hidden or covered during a thunderstorm. Older generations of the Anishinabe would abide by this and hide or cover any mirrors and pots/pans during a thunderstorm. In fact, I remember my mother doing this and asking for assistance. Strangely, when I look at the almond shape of the headlights and their mirror attributes a psychological disposition occurs where I see these majestic creatures merging before me. It is here the uncanny surfaces.
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First Nation artist, Norval Morrisseau (1932-2006) was the first to translate the Anishinabek culture visually through acrylic paintings, drawings and prints. Brian Jungen (1970 - ), also First Nation, took this a step further through different media. Jungen’s sculptures and installations incorporate traditional First Nation colours and wood carvings into his practice. Aesthetically, Morrisseau’s pictographic style has its roots in the traditional beadwork craft, where black lines of beads delineate shapes: a similarity visible in the black outline on the rear brake lights in the installation Binessiwags (2006).
Morrisseau was a predominately a painter, who was well known for his dynamic lines, colourful surfaces, geometric patterns and symbolic forms. The two installations of the Thunderbirds reference painting in its division of the chromatic and the achromatic. In The Thunderbirds (2006), colour is denounced yet in Young Binessiwags, (2006) announced. The headlights are assisted readymade even though I see these installations very much referencing painting with a Duchampain twist through colour saturation in the commodity object. As Duchamp once said ‘colour itself is an industrial readymade, squeezed from a tube.’