Lisa Pugh, teacher in the Aboriginal Education program of School District No. 46, is excited.
She and another teacher, Tami Williams, have turned the students' attention to creating artwork after the style of native artist Norval Morrisseau, famed for his use of colour and his imagery that retells legends of his Ojibwa ancestors.
Recently, the National Gallery in Ottawa exhibited a retrospective show entitled Norval Morrisseau, Shaman Artist. The curator has described the artist's work as sublimely colourful and deeply spiritual."After seeing Morrisseau on TV, he just came alive for the students," says Pugh.
The teachers have collected many dozens of examples of the colourful artwork rendered by children from almost every school on the Coast and will be mounting them at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery (GPAG) this month. The work is exciting, and even more so is the possibility of receiving a visit from the artist himself.
Morrisseau grew up on the Sand Point Reserve in northern Ontario and he now lives in Nanaimo. He is elderly and has Parkinson's disease. Chances are he won't be able to make the trip to see how the children have honoured him. But his family, Gabe and Michelle Vadas, have made a definite commitment to see the show on Friday, June 16, and their visit will be taped for Morrisseau to view later.
Morriseau's paintings are unique and defy classification. They come from a place that speaks proudly of his power name, Copper Thunderbird.
Pugh says that the children have learned many of the artist's distinguishing features. They first started teaching about Morrisseau last fall by showing scanned images of his art.Students had to draw and show that they understood the style elements: x-ray vision (seeing within the figures to a stylized skeletal structure), lines of communication connecting circles and images, lines of power and movement, the significance of the split balance circles and the cycle of life circles, heavy black outlines and the use of contrasting colours.They then learned the stories that went along with many of the paintings.These are based on rock pictographs and birch bark scrolls, relating Ojibwa stories told to Morrisseau by his grandfather, Potan, and drawn from his own visions.For his lifetime of work, Morrisseau has received much distinction, including an appointment to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and a member of the Order of Canada. Among his own people, he has been acknowledged as Grand Shaman of the Ojibwa in 1986, and the Assembly of First Nations bestowed on him their highest honour in 1995, the presentation of the eagle feather.
The children have certainly embraced his work. Their efforts can be seen at the GPAG from June 1 to 30 with a reception on June 16. GPAG is at 241 Gower Point Road, downstairs, and is open from Thursdays through Mondays.
