The Canada 150 year is over and as a member of 'settler society' I continue working on paintings about how to atone and act to undo the harms of colonialsm past and present.  Like my recent shows, proceeds from all work in these series are donated to support initiatives for children and youth in isolated northern First Nations including Neskantaga FN and Pikangikum FN.  

The painting to the left: 'Red Dress Day Oct. 4' a day to remember murdered and missing indigenous women and girls is one in a series. It is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Atlantis journal from Mt. St. Vincent University Vol. 38, No.1, 2017. 
I gathered more weathered plywood from the public spaces, to scrub and use in composing cityscapes for beyond 2016. These constructions using public access weathered wood with paint on woodgrained panels, are unique and fun but they also chllenge the idea of land as property "owned" rather than a resource to be tended, ptotected and nurtured for future generations.
My paintings/mixed media were at Ben Navaee Gallery (1107 Queen St E), July 1-14, over Canada Day 2016.  These works about Toronto (the 1787/2010 land deal) use local pieces of the land (weatherend gathered plywood, birch bark, sand) to honour the history and rights of indigenous people.  More examples can be seen on tumblr
My main project since July 2015 has been paintings inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission including two exhibits titled "We Are All Treaty People" at the Ben Navaee Gallery in Toronto. The link to the pdf guide for the October 2015 show is here.  NOW Magazine noted the February 2016 show as one of its Top 3 Pics here. All the proceeds from both shows went to Neskantaga First Nation and the Pikangikum First Nation Working Group Projects. With the help of a young artist Mariya Li, some of my work is now on tumblr  and facebook. An article on this work apears in Winspeaker Magazine.


Left is one in a series of paintings to respect the youth in northern Ontario First Nation communities, and the hope and bravery of youth and their communities as they fight against despair, high suicide rates and poverty for clean water, safe housing, power and schools. The painting is about Shannen Koostachin a Grade 8 student who led the fight for a school in Attawapiskat.
The painting to the left is about the fire in Loon Lake Saskatchewan, when the 911 call came from the First Nation, the village fire chief decided not to respond because the FN had an unpaid bill.
 
Left (and insert in header) are in a series of 24 X 24 wood panels titled 'Our home on stolen land' about broken treaties, broken trust, and what successive governments (and all of us by implication) have done to deny the land rights, human rights and self-determination of original peoples and their Nations. 


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