Nature Morte: Hauntologies of the Prairies
Various Artists
December 05, 2023 - December 14, 2023
Snelgrove Art Gallery
Curated by The 318 Collective
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday: 10am - 4pm, and Saturday, December 9th: 12pm - 5pm Closing Reception: Thursday, December 14th at 6 - 9pm
Image credit:
The Field (1969)
Sally Wildman
mixed media laminated to masonite on paper
152 cm (width) 109 cm (height)
Collection of the University of Saskatchewan
About the Exhibition
The curatorial collective 318 will present a collaborative exhibition that puts into actuality the historical knowledge and spatial practices learned throughout Exhibition Techniques, a course led by jake moore.
Drawing from six distinct exhibition proposals, key themes and curatorial concerns emerged such as abstraction, representation, and the conditions of loss, that overlapped in such overt ways that a singular project has materialized, Nature Morte: Hauntologies of The Prairies.
The art historical term, Nature Morte/dead nature or Still Life, derived from the Dutch, stilleven, described painted images of food, flora, and objects that were often placed in Egyptian tombs in the belief that the items depicted would become real and available to the deceased in the afterlife. Most often these paintings were of things considered to be inanimate but their potential revival brings into question the role of representation within artistic practices and just what artists' intentions might be when stilling something for our consideration, contemplation, and engagement.
The exhibition engages the intertwined thematics of complex human relationships with an othered ‘nature’ and the role 'place' plays in the development of identity, how methods of depicting landscape and people indicate worldview, and how art often holds within it a description of loss in its temporal displacement of the world around us. Working with art from the USASK collection as markers of these thematics, like those produced at the Emma Lake Artists Workshops and the photographic abstraction of the land by Courtney Milne, the iconic portraiture of Wally Dion, and how abstraction further moves our consideration of the energy inherent in things. Historic works will be interspersed with contemporary works by artists in the class, as well as symbolic objects of commemoration as points of personal connection, for the collective understands the need for direct engagement. Offering these objects and artworks together and in relation to one another, questions the potential of the gallery to hold such depths of emotion and critical concern.
Using different historical methods of exhibition, museology and display, as well as varied art historical methodologies, 'Nature Morte: Hauntologies of the Prairies', as curated by 318, seeks to form such spaces of engagement through our own invested positionalities.
NB: the wall mural After Arthur McKay, was produced by the collective with leadership from Kelsey Pavier and Molly Amelia.
Introducing the 318 Collective
Molly Amelia is a BFAH/art history student and artist living on Treaty six territory. She works in printmaking, painting, drawing and textiles.
Madison Flaherty, born and raised in Saskatoon on Treaty 6 territory, is a student in Art History with an interest in the methods of recontextualization within exhibition practices
Jean-Sébastien (JS) Gauthier is an intermedia artist who adopts inquiry and experimentation to create immersive works of art.
Maxwell Mueller is a 3rd year education student, minoring in art history. For this exhibition, he will be displaying works of art made by his late sister, Claire Mueller. Claire worked in multiple mediums of art, though with a primary focus on acrylic painting. Her art style and inspiration are deeply intertwined with nature and ecology.
Hailey Michelle is an interdisciplinary artist from Treaty 6 with an active artistic practice in Saskatoon. She is currently in her third year of study working towards her B.F.A. in Studio Art.
Kelsey Pavier is an intermedia artist in Saskatoon. Her multi-sensory works and installations draw from her deep-rooted background as a birth worker and highlight the essence of motherhood, and transformation.
Naazy Sedaghatkerdar is an MFA student, artist and photographer at the University of Saskatchewan. She is from Iran and has participated in several art exhibitions in her home country. Although her primary choice of medium is photography, she is interested in various mediums and techniques including installation, video art, and performance.
Sicora is an emerging neurodiverse artist living with chronic illness and disability. She is currently pursuing a BFA at the university of Saskatchewan. Her work often explores themes of identity, trauma and ecology.
Nazli Tabkhi is an Iranian artist, based in Saskatoon, who generally works on self-portraiture art with psychoanalytic approach.
My name is Saba Tensae, an artist from Treaty 9 but have lived mostly in Treaty 4 and 6 territory who is here to learn and showcase my passions and collaboration.
Abbey Tomlinson is in her 4th year of a Bachelor of Arts focusing on Art History. With her interest in the processes of the techniques seen through art history she hopes further understand art and the inner workings behind it.
I have an alias online but call me Aaliyah Christiana Vinta. I've lived in Saskatoon on Treaty 6 territory ever since I moved to Canada. I specialize in pencil sketch drawings on paper.
Sean Worobec is a 3rd year student majoring in Art History. He was born in Saskatchewan on Treaty 4 territory. He hopes to learn the processes behind putting up exhibitions to better understand and surround himself in the world of art.
Featured Artists
Shapeshifter no. 1 (2023)
Pirate (2021)
Glass Harvest (2021)
Egg (2016)
These works, Pirate, a self portrait in acrylic, Glass Harvest, a still life in acrylic, and Egg, a still life in watercolour, are all works which were completed by the late Claire Mueller, a prolific artist and Graduate of the Linguistics Program at the University Of Saskatchewan. Claire’s work always held links to nature, given soul by summers spent at Wakaw Lake, and by a life lived by the South Saskatchewan River. Claire passed away in the summer of 2021, and in her memory her family created the Claire Mueller Memorial Award with the help of the University of Saskatchewan. The fund is meant to provide financial support to undergraduate students in the Linguistics and Studio Art programmes. Today, Claire’s art is presented by her brother, Maxwell Mueller, an undergraduate student in the College of Education, and member of the 318 collective.
Vimy Ridge
Display Table (2023)
My paternal grandmother Annie and her family immigrated from the UK to the prairies in early 1900's. Ironically her younger brother Albert returned to Europe with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. He was killed as the Canadian infantry stomed the hill to capture Vimy Ridge on April 10, 1917, WW1.
"in those few minutes I witnessed a birth of a nation " Brigadier - General A.E Ross.
My father served on Canada, United Kingdom and Continental Europe. He returned to the Prairies to farm with his parents Annie and Herb Sykes. These biographical and historical events have impacted my life as I am today.
Asintmah, Weaver if Fireweed (1988)
Freya's Necklace, Rainbow of Colour (1993)
Haumea, Mother Goddess of Hawaii (1987)
Inanna, Mesopotamian Queen of Heaven (1989)
Moombi, Creator of the Earth (1994)
Cosmic Mountain, Peaches of Immortality (1989)
The Norns, Guardians of the Sacred Waters (1992)
Kuru Ngaituka, Bird Woman of the Maori (1987)
Enchanted Forest, Home of Yeshe Khadoma (1985)
Dzonokwa's Sea Cave, Place of Grieving (1996)
Paputuanuki, Earth Mother of the Maori (1984)
Eskimo Point, Land of the Inuit (1985)
Yolkai Estsan, Bringer of Light (1990)
Hydrangea (2023)
According to the exhibition’s theme, which is related to nature, I have decided to create an artwork that engages with nature more closely. To do so, I printed one of my photos and installed it on one of the exterior walls of the Snelgrove gallery. The artwork has been there from the very first moment the exhibition took its shape, from the first day of the art selection process until the gallery was open to the public. This artwork has pursued three main goals. Firstly, in a sense, this artwork has recorded the trace of nature while other artworks have been safe and sound within the walls of the gallery. Secondly, it has let the natural elements—sun, wind, rain, and so on—participate in the process of creation and have been artists participating in a social ceremony. Thirdly, when the work has been brought into the gallery and has been placed on the interior walls of it, it has brought the outside into the gallery and has included it in the exhibition. In this term, the artwork has been an attempt to showcase the gallery itself.
