About the Exhibitions
Canada's Child
Maia the Cree
Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Reception: Friday, April 10, from 7 - 10 pm
Canada’s Child is a representation of Maia the Cree’s evolution of Indigenous self-identity through the Canadian educational system as a Plains Cree woman raised on the prairies in the 2000s. In the final semesters of an Honours Degree in Indigenous Studies and Studio Art , Maia the Cree’s art is a celebration of her inevitable mental decolonization.
History will show that Canada has a bad habit of infantilizing Indigenous Peoples, including downgrading Indigenous art practices to “arts and crafts.” In an act of malicious compliance, almost all the pieces are made from cheap children’s craft supplies. This is also done in reverence for the gift of being raised by your parents without government-sanctioned interference.
While Maia the Cree was raised at home, with ceremony and family nearby, she represented the first generation of her father's line to avoid a Residential or Day school before living memory, and she knew it. Now, nearing her second decade of Euro-Western schooling, she represents all her life phases simultaneously in her creations.
Her art also emphasizes how unavoidable capitalism is in the current society. Despite all she has learnt and experienced, this exhibition is a celebration of the Indigenous childhood Maia the Cree had, and the one previous generations should have had.
About the Artist:
Maia the Cree is a néhiyaw iskwew from Onihcikiskwapowin with maternal ties to Sturgeon Lake First Nation. She is completing an Honours Degree in Indigenous Studies, with a focus on Indigenous feminism and spirituality, and will be working toward an Honours Degree in Studio Art by Christmas. She is a lifelong learner and artist whose passion extends to singing and songwriting, and she was featured on the 49th Telemiracle with an original song, “Whispering Winds,” to uplift Indigenous youth. Her Indigenous Identity and individual spiritual life inform much of her academic and artistic pursuits. She credits an upbringing that actively decolonized spirituality in her home, as well as her personal cognitive decolonization, for her ambition and readiness to critique colonial systems in everything she does. One day, she hopes to be a polarizing “Great Canadian” figure that makes others question their own involvement in continuing colonization.
Underwing
Mary French
Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Reception: Friday, April 10, from 7 - 10 pm
Underwing is an eclectic collection of work created during the past several months as I have been navigating grief, loss, and change. Nature has always been a source of solace and wonder for me, but recently I’ve been considering it at a more granular level.
I’ve found myself drawn to small creatures and insects, and the moth, in particular, has become central to this exploration. Moths can represent both the chaos and pain of metamorphosis and the joy of flight; their brief lives are marked by their search for light in the darkness. The underwing moth, a small, seemingly dull-looking creature who hides her vibrant colours, gives my exhibition its name. I have been engaged in finding beauty in small, ordinary things — even those often considered to be “ugly” — and the underwing moth embodies this perfectly.
Once I began seeking them out, I found surprisingly beautiful details everywhere. Glossy fish scales. Beetle mandibles. A delicate pink flower on a lily pad. Mosquitoes fluttering ethereally against the camera lens. The curve of an orange cat’s tail as he leaps in a field of clover. Crimson seeds glistening inside a fresh-picked tomato. The perfect prickly point of a Canada thistle leaf. A baby grasshopper clinging tall grass under a clothesline. The sheen of pigeon feathers. Even the luminous rainbow auras that precede a migraine headache.
Looking at life from underwing has given me an unusual perspective. I am excited to share it with you.
About the Artist
Mary French is a multidisciplinary artist who is completing a BFA in Studio Arts at the University of Saskatchewan this year. Recently she has been working primarily with fiber arts, especially dry felting, embroidery, and beading, but she also loves printmaking, drawing, and stop-motion animation. Mary’s art often features serious subject matter that is subverted by an element of whimsy. Common themes include “women’s work,” transformation, and the natural world. Mary’s work has been featured in exhibitions in Saskatoon, Toronto, and NYC.
All That Returns
Marlo Turk
Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Reception: Friday, April 10, from 7 - 10 pm
All That Returns reflects on the enduring connection between all living things
and the natural world that exists alongside us. Often overlooked, nature accompanies us
through every stage of life, revealing itself in subtle details and everyday moments. In
this body of work, I consider the fragility of life and our inevitable return to the earth,
following the shared cycles that move through us and all living beings. In recognizing
these rhythms, I invite a deeper awareness of the present, encouraging us to pause, to
notice, and to find meaning in the life unfolding around us.
A central subject within this body of work is the flower. Fleeting in its beauty, a
single bloom often lasts no more than a week, reflecting the impermanence shared across
all living things. I am drawn to the way it embodies these cycles, moving through growth,
bloom, decay, and return. Through the flower, I return to this rhythm, recognizing the
subtle connections between all living beings as we move through the same processes. In
this way, death is not separate from life, but part of its continuation. We are not separate
from these cycles, but inseparable from them, returning to the same earth and becoming
part of something larger than ourselves.
About the Artist
Marlo Turk is a twenty-three-year-old artist from Saskatoon, currently in her
fourth year of the University of Saskatchewan’s BFA Honours program. Her work is
grounded in an appreciation for connection between people, the natural world, and the
quiet details of everyday life. Developed from a lifelong appreciation for nature, her work
reflects an ongoing interest in its details and presence. Her current practice focuses on
exploring the potential of paper beyond its flat, two-dimensional form through cutouts,
collage, and installation. Working primarily with watercolour, pencil crayon, and found
natural materials, she aims to translate the small details of the natural world into
something others can experience and appreciate.
