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Taapwe miyo otaskiiwahk
Ispimihk eyaacik
Nama taakwan ahkosiwin
Kaakike kiisikaaw
There is a Land of Pure Delight
Where Saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain;
From Hymns and Choruses in the Language of the Cree Indians, Published by Northern Evangelical Mission, 1963
In describing the abstract Christian construct of a spiritual utopia, the author of the above hymn has chosen language that appeals to our sensual experience of the sublime. As our familiarity with "pleasures" and "pain" is inextricably linked to touch, many of us would relate the sublime to an experience of sexual ecstasy. For the kinkier amoung us, sexual ecstasy demands both pleasure and pain; and when touch, as pain or pleasure, is discussed in the context of sex, it's impossible to avoid discourses of power. In this new series of work, I am exploring the significance of power in relation to touch and sexuality. Foucault described sexuality as "an especially dense transfer point for relations of power: between men and women, young people and old people, parents and offspring, teachers and students, priests and laity, an administration and a population". I am interested in how the discourse about, and practise of, sexuality and touch relate to hierarchy, dominion and subordination. I am currently exploring the correlation of Eros and conquest to European and Native American contact in my new series of paintings, The Prayer Language.
In this series of paintings, I transcribe Cree syllabic translations of Christian hymns into multiple layers of semi-transparent acrylic paint. Suspended between these layers are organic forms, at times resembling the figure or organs of the body. In a colour range that suggests the varied pigmentation of human flesh, these visceral forms emerge at the surface of the painting like veins, muscles or bones that rise from within the body to become visible just beneath the skin. In some paintings, the forms are decidedly more figurative, depicting bodies entwined together. Drawing inspiration from erotic photos of men wrestling, I create ambiguity in the final image. Are these bodies conjoining in ecstasy or struggle? Power and subordination? Pleasure or pain?
Since the first arrival of the Spanish in the Americas, the church has played a vital role in the sexual conquest of the aboriginal nations. The Spanish conquisatdors sought papal permission to punish the natives for practicing sodomy, and having accused their enemies of committing this "abominable sin", the Spanish felt justified in their brutalities and thereby claimed their right to conquest of the Native American. According to various European missionary reports, from that time forward, there was much sexual diversity in aboriginal America including polygamy, transvestism, and homosexuality. The extent of these practices, however, varied according to the data collected by the different religious orders, who required information on native sexual institutions if they were to conquer the devil and convert the sinners. We cannot, however, simplify anything as complex as sexuality or define European sexuality as exclusively "repressive" and native American sexuality as "permissive". From antiquity to the present, all over the globe, homosexuality has been varyingly encouraged, tolerated, or outlawed. However, through the widespread evangelisation and indoctrination by missionaries, many native American people adopted Judaeo-Christian attitudes toward their sexual expression. The adoption of these values, both through struggle and acquiescence, is one of the areas that I am exploring in this new series of work; and while these new paintings are highly personal on one level, they are intended to transcend pat explorations of sexual identity and cultural heritage.
The very depiction of the Cree language, in any written form, is a direct result of aboriginal and European contact and is loaded with associations to the church and their complicity in the colonization of aboriginal peoples. The invention of Cree syllabics has been credited to an Anglican missionary, Reverend James Evans, who was working to evangelise the First Nations in northern Ontario and Manitoba in the late 1800's. He came to use syllabics in his hymnals and publications of the bible because he found Cree and Ojibway words too long and unwieldy to effectively translate using the English alphabet. The Cree people maintain that this system of writing predated Evans by at least a century, existing in bark scrolls that contain sacred writings, and that Evans was taught these symbols by a Cree informant. Later in his career, echoing the history of abuse in the residential school system, Evans was stripped of his ministry because of sexual misconduct within a Cree community in northern Manitoba.
Christianity took root in my Cree family with my great grandmother, Caroline Everet, who was born in the Cree and Saulteaux settlement of St. Peter's in Manitoba in 1875. This community was established in 1834 by the Anglican church. It was the first attempt to create an Aboriginal agricultural settlement in western Canada. As Cree was the language that was used for all the hymns, prayers and bible study in Manitoba regardless of which language people spoke, the Saulteaux people referred to Cree as "The Prayer Language." Before long, the community disintegrated; the transition to Christianity and agriculture was too much for many of the Cree and Saulteaux people who were accustomed to a nomadic lifestyle of hunting and gathering. Despite the failure of this agricultural community, Christianity proved to have a lasting effect. My great grandmother's Christian beliefs were passed down in my family to my grandmother and eventually to my father. The Cree language was not. My father learned some Cree as a child, but had to study Cree, with white teachers, in a missionary language school, to prepare him for a Christian ministry to his own people. When I was a young child, my family lived on various remote northern reserves while my father ministered in his newly honed Native tongue. Most of my childhood experience with the Cree language was in the form of hymns sung in urban and rural religious services in Native communities throughout Manitoba.
The titles for each painting are taken from hymns found in my parents' Cree prayer book that I transcribe on each canvas. As I can not actually read syllabics or speak Cree, this process both reinforces my distance from the language, and brings me closer to it. As I make these paintings, I see this language as an abstraction; and at times while transcribing the syllabics, I become confused and lose my place. I am only able to vaguely comprehend the meaning of the syllabics because of my childhood familiarity with the Christian hymns that they represent. The unique technical process I developed with my painting is layered and complex, supporting the layered and complex histories that I allude to. I pour, glaze and manipulate semi-transparent layers of paint with squeegees, in a method that is a delicate balance between control and chance. With the erotically charged imagery, and the epidermis-like quality of the surface, I am creating a series of sensual paintings that allude to the significance of touch as it relates to sexuality and power.
Kent Monkman, Artist Statement for The Prayer Language, 2001
One device Monkman has used frequently is the triptych. Earlier, it aided in expressing alternative views and documenting change. In the work in this exhibition, Monkman attempts to use that device to show different perspectives of a three dimensional object.
Kent Monkman's ideas have developed beyond his capacity to express them adequately within the constraints of a two dimensional surface. That is not to say that he will be unable to find a way to solve this universal dilemma faced by both emerging and established artists (see his video and installation works).
In fact, the painterly skill exhibited in his earlier work would lead to the conclusion that his is a temporary problem, as yet unsolved. Monkman's unspoken agreement with that analysis is exhibited by his entrance into theatre, dance and other forms of art as an alternative route to expressing the complexity of his ideas. The question is whether or not he will continue to pursue his resolution of this dilemma through his painting or continue to seek their development through other forms of artistic expression.
Hopefully, he will not abandon his painting, for his earlier work was most impressive---colourful, very well painted and highly resolved.
Nor should Monkman's exploration of other artistic media be considered an aberration. It is a natural phenomenon of the rich and diverse artistic community in which both he and Marshall work, influenced by the dynamic reactivity and multidisciplinary expressions of other Indian artists such as director/actor/writer Floyd Favel, with whom they share lodgings and creative energy.
His earlier work concentrated on the human form and reflected on its destruction and restoration. He later substituted masks for human faces, inspired by the Oka crisis. The focus of that conflict, The Pines, were a source of material for the False Face Society. That exploration led to expression of his concern for the preservation of the forest, depicted by truncated trees. He emphasized the similarity of those trees to human organs "paralleling connection with our land, thus getting to an essence of spiritual beings."
He found the closest similarity between the truncated trees and the human heart and, in that resemblance, the transcendence of mind, body and spirit that defined the polarities as well as the similarities, and the ambiguities, of the relationship between people and the land.
That the current work on exhibit at Latitude 53 does not measure up to his earlier work is not a condemnation of Monkman in his evolution as an artist. Eager anticipation of Monkman's new discoveries as he proceeds on his odyssey is the obvious attitude to adopt.
Abridged review by Jane Ash Poitras and Clint Buehler from the Gallery newsletter, June/July, 1994
In this new body of work, Monkman addresses the implications of the classification and categorization of First Nations material culture by museums that respond to European values and aesthetics. The questioning of this system that measures and defines a living, thriving culture leaves little room for that culture to grow and step beyond the boundaries that have been set.
Monkman, through the use of organic and biomorphic shapes, visualizes the "art-i-fact" experience. We see a form/specimen of entangled roots searching for a place to grow---bright blue and red shapes symbolizing the life force embedded within them. Unable to find space to grow and expand, the roots become intertwined and turn back in on themselves.
These biomorphic images are placed within a structured environment of the neutral grey, green and brown tones so often used on institution walls. Grids and frames suggest the museum concepts of classification.
As an artist of First Nations ancestry, Monkman steps outside to reflect on boundaries created by the museum milieu. He provides no pat answers or definitions to these issues, but incites the viewer to explore the experience through his imagery.
Statement by Curator Lynne Hill
The Creation Wheel installation evolved as a natural extension of my two dimensional explorations as a painter. Designing sets for theatre and dance broadened my vocabulary as an artist, giving me added insights and skills that I drew upon to realise this project. As the organic biomorphic shapes in my work developed in my oil paintings, I recognised the potential for these forms to exist as three dimensional entities.
Creation Wheel refers directly to the cyclical nature of our world; the inter-relation of the elements. The organic shapes are now sculptural elements reminiscent of arteries, or tree roots implying a relationship to the earth. The circular shapes conjure images of the moon and our planet. The architectural component of Creation Wheel, a literal extension of the museum walls, physically forces a perspective that reflects the standard Western/European frame of reference by which non-European cultures are perceived. This structure, somewhat like a giant speaker or megaphone, has become a vehicle through which an alternate voice is heard; with the introduction of a soundscape, I have been able to evoke a multiplicity of associations; clues to personal inspiration.
Artist Statement by Kent Monkman, September 1994
From "Stripping Away White Pretensions," a review by H.J. Kirchhoff, Globe and Mail, April 5, 1993
Creatively set by Kent Monkman in a space both divine and decadent---at one moment, it's the interior of a church, the next, a seedy nightclub---Lady of Silences addresses a number of contemporary issues with force.
From "Lady's Message Muted," a review by John Coulbourn, The Toronto Sun, April 3, 1993
The crime is reenacted as a religious ritual, with a tapestry of coral work, broad comedy and harsh violence unfolding against Kent Monkman's elegant backdrop of stained glass, red velvet, smoke and candles.
From "Silence is Golden," a review by Jill Lawless, Now Magazine, April 8, 1993
From "Diva Flows with Heart, Humour," a review by Vit Wagner, Toronto Star, April 22, 1994
...In Child of 10,000 Years, a work whose scenography evokes a wheat-filled rural farmland in the background, and an arid wasteland of skeletal trees and rocks in the foreground---suggestive of the contrast between the white man's land and a native reserve.
With such a successfully produced set design....this pocket company is an enterprise which deserves much nurturing.
From "Fledging Toronto Company Displays Exciting Promise," a review by Pauline Tam, Ottawa Citizen, June 14, 1994
His interest in theatre grew out of attending plays presented by Native Earth Performing Arts Inc. He soon realised that his own talents could be applied in working in the field of stage and costume design. The work requires imagination and long, hard hours, but it's a challenge that is driven by his love for art in all forms. The rewards are in designing costumes and sets that enhance actors' performances and the stories they tell.
Brought up in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the 29 year old Monkman has always had a love for the arts. "When I was a kid I was always painting, drawing-whatever-it was a real joy for me. There was never any question in my mind that that's what I would be doing. When it came to that point in my life of what to do, I knew I was going to pursue my life as an artist."
At the age of 17, he decided to study illustration through a Commercial Art program at a local community college.
It was through following his own vision that Monkman got his break in theatre. "I was drawn to work with the Native Earth Performing Arts (theatre company) and quite interested in the work being done there, but they had no Native designers."
Monkman could see that Native people were beginning to have an impact in all areas of theatre production except one. "They had Native actors on stage, they had Native writers and Native directors, but there wasn't yet anyone from the Native community who was designing from the stage."
Upon seeing this vacuum, Monkman stepped forward to say that he was interested in working in the area of set and costume design. Following an apprenticeship at Native Earth designing Almighty Voice, Monkman was encouraged to take the Theatre Design Internship at the Banff Centre for the Arts. "When I returned from Banff, I had the opportunity to work on Lady of Silences which was written and directed by Floyd Favel."
Striking up an easy rapport with Favel, Monkman enjoyed the cooperative nature of this newfound art form. "Floyd and I found we worked well together. I asked him what he saw as the imagery of the play, then helped articulate it in the design."
"It's a collaborative process, which was interesting for me, because as a painter, illustrator, visual artist, you work primarily by yourself. I was interested not only in getting away from the two-dimensional, but also working in an environment with other artists."
Monkman believes that his job is to use his artistic talents to express the vision of the playwright or director. "I'm not there to impose anything, only to interpret it," he says before adding, "I think the sign of a good director is one who gives the designer a lot of freedom ... to give you the room and opportunity to bring in your own ideas."
Since working on those plays, he has gone on to work with Favel and Michael Greyeyes in two dance pieces for the Canada Dance Festival. "I actually enjoyed that experience more," he says, "because designing for dance was less specific and more open minded, it allows for more artistic interpretation on different levels."
As for his work right now, he replies, "It's important for my art work to be developing. Last year I did Diva Ojibway and two dance pieces as well as doing all my other work. I had four art exhibitions; it was a very busy year. That's why right now I'm concentrating on setting up my new studio, doing my paintings, and seeing where that takes me."
In following his own vision as an artist, Monkman has been part of an exciting movement that is claiming all aspects of theatre as something to be created by Native people.
Article "Setting the Stage: Kent Monkman," by Jan Bourdeau Waboose, Aboriginal Voices, Sept/Oct, 1995
