Billboard Project by Catherine Blackburn
Hamilton Artists Inc.
Co-presented by AKA, Hamilton Artists Inc., and PAVED Arts
June 3, 2019 – May 24, 2020
Catherine Blackburn’s photographic installation on The Inc.’s exterior Cannon Project Wall, Narhî Wasagabiich, celebrates traditional Indigenous garment-making and adorning, practices that express women’s care for their families and communities. Reinventing beadwork techniques she learned from her loved ones, Blackburn uses contemporary plastic Perler beads to create futuristic “new world armours” that empower and protect their wearers.
Although Indigenous people do not all share a single culture or language, they do share a history of colonialism. Blackburn takes stylistic inspiration from diverse First Nations across Canada to pay homage to the matriarchal leaders from these communities. The colourful, intricate armour serves as a powerful reminder of women’s strength and resilience in the face of oppression. Narhî Wasagabiich, meaning “Strong Spirits” in the Stoney Nakoda Îyithka language, is part of a series called New Age Warriors in which Blackburn uses garment-making, beadwork, and photography to envision a future where the voices and contributions of Indigenous women, two-spirited, and non-binary persons are acknowledged and celebrated.
This installation is part of a national billboard exchange between Hamilton Artists Inc., AKA Artist-run and PAVED Arts in Saskatoon. The three-way collaboration also includes billboard installations by artists Meghan Price at AKA/PAVED from July to August 2019, and Janet Wang at AKA/PAVED from July to August 2020.
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Catherine Blackburn was born in Patuanak Saskatchewan, of Dene and European ancestry and is a member of the English River First Nation. She is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweler whose common themes are often prompted by personal narratives to explore the complexities of memory, history and identity. Her work has exhibited in notable national group exhibitions, including; Worlds on a String: Beads, Journeys, Inspirations, the renowned 2017 Bonavista Biennale, and most recently, My Sister, The Contemporary Indigenous Art Biennial 2018 in Montreal, Quebec. She has received numerous grants and awards for her work, including a Governor General History Award, the Saskatchewan RBC Emerging Artist Award, the Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award, and most recently, she has been long-listed for the national Sobey Art Award 2019.
Meghan Price has exhibited nationally and internationally, including recent shows at the Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), Fiberspace Gallery (Stockholm); AKA Artist-run (Saskatoon); Untitled Art Society (Calgary); the Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (Asheville); the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (Brandon); and Blackwood Gallery (Toronto). She has held residencies at the Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós); the Museum of the Flat Earth (Fogo Island); Artspace (Sydney); the Scottish Sculpture Workshop (Lumsden); and the Banff Centre. Price holds a degree in Textile Construction from The Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles (2003) and an MFA from Concordia University (2009). She lives in Toronto and teaches in the textile studios of OCAD University and Sheridan College.
Janet Wang is a visual artist working within a traditional painting practice, integrated with sculptural installation practices and digital media. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and her Master of Arts in Studio Practice from the University of Leeds in England. Her work explores the construction of identity through the appropriation and disruption of social patterns and familiar gestures. The artist borrows heavily from the canons and traditions of history, both the artistic and the quotidian, in order to use the familiar as a meeting point with the viewer. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is represented through the Art Rental and Sales, operated by the Vancouver Art Gallery. She has been awarded residencies from the Arts Council of England, ArtStarts, the Burnaby Arts Council, and received awards from the Vancouver Foundation and the BC Arts Council.
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Hamilton Artist Inc.(The Inc.) is a not-for-profit, artist-run centre that empowers artists of all career levels to take risks with their contemporary visual arts practices and present their work in a critical context.
PAVED Arts is a non-profit, artist-run production centre and gallery that exists to advance knowledge and practices in what we call the PAVED Arts; Photography, Audio, Video, Electronic and Digital. In other words, we help artists and independent producers make and exhibit their work.
