Circular Connections, An Exhibition of the Amazing Artistry of Christi Belcourt

by

Art and nature: Christi Belcourt, a Métis artist, has always addressed the cyclical relationship between people and nature. Her large paintings of floral designs are made of dots created by dipping the end of a paintbrush or knitting needle into paint and pressing onto the canvas to evoke 19th-century Métis floral beadwork. The look of beadwork pays homage to the Métis tradition, says Nadia Kurd, curator at Thunder Bay Art Gallery. It also links thematically to the Woodland School made popular by Lake-region artists Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig and Roy Thomas.

Christi, an environmentalist and activist who grew up in Ottawa, lives north of Manitoulin Island. Her work celebrates the beauty of the natural world and traditional Indigenous views on spirituality and natural medicines, while it explores nature’s symbolic properties. It’s also meant as an environmental statement to protect the Earth and all on it.

Thunder Bay Art Gallery will feature a mid-career retrospective of Christi’s work with 20 to 25 of her paintings, as well as collaborations with Indigenous artist and grassroots activist Isaac Murdoch.

Q&A WITH Christi B.

LSM: How do you achieve the look of beadwork?

CB: It’s done with dots.  Sometimes the canvasses are covered in 200,000 dots to make it look like beadwork. But it’s the underlying message that is important for me. …. As artists, you have a responsibility to reflect the current-day emotions people are feeling and remind them of who they are as good human beings.

LSM: Can you describe some of your influences?

CB: Right now, my biggest influence is the destruction of the environment … . I

began doing art as a career almost 20 years ago, when climate change hadn’t quite reached the almost point of no return. But within Indigenous knowledge and from elders we hear about the importance of the Earth, the waters and

the interconnection of all living beings with everything on Earth.

Good to Know

“Uprising: The Power of Mother Earth,” the Christi Belcourt retrospective with Isaac Murdoch, runs June 22-Nov. 25 at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. www.theag.ca

Christi’s work is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.