Blood runs through all of us – but for artist Meryl McMaster, it runs across time, land and image.
Her new exhibition Bloodline, opening June 18 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, anchors a trio of powerful contemporary shows that interrogate identity, place and protection.
AGGV's summer art season kicks off with two exhibitions opening the same night – including Bloodline, a visually arresting survey of Indigenous ancestry, told through large-scale photographs, sculptural elements and immersive video.
“This summer, we’re doing a really contemporary season – and all three exhibitions include Indigenous artists or Indigenous perspectives,” says Steven McNeil, the gallery’s chief curator.
reflects McMaster’s mixed Plains Cree, Métis, Dutch and British heritage, and focuses on the lives of her great-great-grandmother, great-grandmother, and grandmother from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. At the heart of the exhibition is the series Stories of My Grandmothers, which explores generational memory and cultural continuity.
“She is really a fascinating artist,” McNeil says. “Her work looks to her heritage and it shows her amazing technical skill as a photographer. She handcrafts a lot of the elements in her photographs, and it’s just a beautiful installation with a lot of butterfly elements – three-dimensional objects – that really animate the works.”
“The sound design is really important – you can hear the crunching of leaves, the presence of the land ... it’s incredibly powerful.”
The show includes two immersive video pieces, which prompted the gallery to upgrade its sound and display equipment. “The sound design is really important – you can hear the crunching of leaves, the presence of the land. It’s hard to explain until you experience it, but it’s incredibly powerful.”
Opening alongside Bloodline is , a film installation by Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle. Featuring interviews with Songhees Nation members, the film centres on Indigenous language, history and land stewardship on the territory now known as Victoria.
“We’re devoting our Drury Gallery to it, which is like a fully immersive video gallery,” McNeil says. “It’s a great way for people to think about the land we’re on and the Indigenous peoples whose land it is.”
Already on view is , which opened May 24. Curated by Dr. Toby Lawrence, it features work by Dana Claxton, Jessica Karuhanga, Emilio Rojas, Beth Stuart and France Trépanier. The exhibition explores how contemporary artists respond to systems of protection, care and resistance – both physical and conceptual.
The gallery will host a on Wednesday, June 18, from 5 to 9 p.m., with performances by Lekwungen dancers, remarks from curators and a durational performance by Emilio Rojas. Artists from all three exhibitions will be on site, except McMaster, who returns in September for a public talk.
“We try to totally transform the space for each show,” McNeil says. “Walls come down, things get rebuilt – it’s a lot of work, but the result is three completely different experiences that are visually and emotionally distinct.”
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