不良研究所

So far, the exhibition The Art of Faye HeavyShield has travelled to galleries in Regina and Winnipeg. But the third showing, in Nickle Galleries, is especially meaningful because it鈥檚 situated on Treaty 7 land, the artist鈥檚 home. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 really good to be home. When you say 鈥榯erritory鈥�, I feel it鈥檚 more than a homeland and a language. It鈥檚 about the family that you make through art. This is really where my art was born,鈥� Faye HeavyShield remarked when the show opened at U不良研究所.  

A Blackfoot artist from Kainai First Nation and a U不良研究所 alumna, HeavyShield has had a rich and accomplished career spanning more than 40 years. She鈥檚 also a recipient of a Distinguished Artist Award from the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. 

HeavyShield is a senior visual artist whose drawings, sculptures, and installations have had a profound influence on art in Canada. Her work draws upon her family histories, traditional Kainai stories, language and knowledge, and it鈥檚 deeply rooted in the history of the Canadian Prairies. 

鈥淭his is the first retrospective of Faye HeavyShield, who I would say is one of Canada鈥檚 most important contemporary artists,鈥� says curator Felicia Gay, a Cree woman from Northern Saskatchewan. Gay notes the exhibition explores a number of themes: absence and presence, connection to the land, and our understanding of time. 

鈥淲hen people come to see this show, these are all stories. And if the stories are meant to find you, they鈥檒l be realized to you.鈥� 

The Art of Faye HeavyShield launched Nickle Galleries鈥� fall season. U不良研究所 Elder Dr. Reg Crowshoe began the opening reception by giving a Blessing, with many of HeavyShield鈥檚 friends and family members in attendance.    

鈥淭his exhibition is really spectacular in part because it鈥檚 on view with the Nickle鈥檚 soaring brutalist architecture as a backdrop,鈥� notes Dr. Michele Hardy, PhD, Nickle Galleries curator.

鈥淲ith its open spaces and theatrical lighting, The Art of Faye HeavyShield is at once monumental and intimate. Deceptively simple, Faye HeavyShield鈥檚 work is layered and complex.鈥�

The Art of Faye HeavyShield runs in Nickle Galleries until Dec. 9 before moving to the Carleton University Art Gallery. This travelling exhibition has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.

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