Last month, the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) celebrated the opening of The Art of Faye HeavyShield exhibit with a lively launch party and meaningful conversation.
Featuring evocative paper and mixed-media pieces spanning decades of HeavyShield’s work, the exhibit demands attention through its minimalistic style and thought-provoking backstories. As a notable contributor to contemporary art, HeavyShield’s work draws from her experience as a Blackfoot (Blood) woman.
HeavyShield said her art is a collaboration between herself, her family and the Kainai territory in southern Alberta.
“[There’s nothing] outside myself that I can point at and say ‘This is what [my art] means to me’ because it’s [all] me,” HeavyShield said. “It’s from my parents, my grandparents and all these other influences.”
“What my art means is what I breathe, what I say. It’s just there all the time.”
HeavyShield described her creative process as “quiet,” preferring to work from the cozy confines of her home. She mainly uses what she calls “humble materials,” such as paper, manipulating images she captures through folds.
She also uses natural materials such as grass and twigs in her installations, as well as beads, fabric and paint. Her artistic range expands into audio recordings, writing and graphite drawings.
“Every time you’re working with a single element of that piece, it’s almost like you’re stringing together a sentence,” she said.
HeavyShield said she draws inspiration from all over depending on the focus of her piece, opening herself to ideas that float to her. HeavyShield includes Blackfoot in her work, an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people.
“My language is part of my expression, and while not expecting the viewer to fully grasp […] a definition or meaning, it is within the origin of the work,” she said. “My main focus was the inspiration not only from the story, but also the voice and language that carried this to me.”
A striking installation toward the back of the gallery, Aapaskaiyaawa (They Are Dancing), includes twelve monochromatic yellow paper sculptures that resemble hooded figures. Lit by a single light source and floating magnetically, the figures create dramatic shadows falling on the walls.
The 12 different-sized figures are set in a semi-circle, suggesting a community gathering with engaging conversation.
Another installation capturing launch party attendees’ attention was the display of little boats made out of paper splayed out on the floor to create an unwavering river in the middle of the art gallery.
“Everyone who visits her work understands the emotive quality of her art,” Gay said. ”It can’t be experienced in quite the same way on paper or online.”
Gay said she enjoyed experimenting and envisioning the end result. She said she feels joyful when she sees the connections between each work and emphasized that HeavyShield’s process is just as important as the art itself.
“I always felt she deserved a deeper look at her process,” Gay said. “I have always appreciated the way she looks at the world and how her thinking is located in her culture.”
Launch party attendees Emmanuelle Desrochers and Kayla Miller, who are both Carleton masters students in art and architectural history, said they enjoyed reflecting alongside HeavyShield’s work.
“There’s a lot of installations here that are very powerful, yet fragile,” Desrochers said.
Desrochers added she appreciated the exhibition’s purpose to diversely practice and convey holistic messages by using different materials.
“I feel very at peace with the pieces,” Desrochers said.
“Even with the crowds and the noise, there is a spaciousness that comes because it is so minimalist,” Miller added. “It feels like I could really sit with one work for a long time.”
Miller said HeavyShield’s art engages in conversation with the gallery space and people in the room.
“It’s very alive,” Miller said. “It feels like I’m very much in dialogue with the artwork.”
The Art of Faye HeavyShield is on display until April 21. Admission is free.
Featured image by Owen Spillios-Hunter/the Charlatan.
