Drawing & Painting student honoured for "artistic alchemy"
Thursday, June 18, 2015 - 5:00pm
Spiritual Warrior
A work entitled Spiritual Warrior – by Drawing & Painting student “Nodinamaad” Isaac Narciso Weber – was recently declared the Art Winner in the 2015 Aboriginal Arts & Stories competition. Sponsored by Historica Canada, this is the largest and most recognized competition for art and creative writing by Aboriginal youth in Canada. The award was presented to Isaac on June 9, 2015, at a ceremony held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Isaac says Spiritual Warrior was the result of a “contemporary artistic alchemical process.” Reflecting on his practice, he notes that, “as an aspiring visual artist, I use the tools available within my environment like my ancestors did, from carving petroglyphs to graffiti on a train or wall.”
A member of the Turtle Clan Nation, whose traditional territories are called the Henvy Inlet First Nations (near French River, Ontario), as an OCAD University student Isaac has focused much of his work on narrative strategies and the “decolonization of picture making.” In this process, he has found significant support and inspiration from his professors Bonnie Devine and Julie Nagam.
Beyond completing his formal studies, Isaac’s longer-term goal is “to create a platform in Toronto for indigenous people to have longer-running arts exhibitions, creative workshops and seminars surrounding imagine-making and indigenous visual culture.”
A work entitled Spiritual Warrior – by Drawing & Painting student “Nodinamaad” Isaac Narciso Weber – was recently declared the Art Winner in the 2015 Aboriginal Arts & Stories competition. Sponsored by Historica Canada, this is the largest and most recognized competition for art and creative writing by Aboriginal youth in Canada. The award was presented to Isaac on June 9, 2015, at a ceremony held at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Isaac says Spiritual Warrior was the result of a “contemporary artistic alchemical process.” Reflecting on his practice, he notes that, “as an aspiring visual artist, I use the tools available within my environment like my ancestors did, from carving petroglyphs to graffiti on a train or wall.”
A member of the Turtle Clan Nation, whose traditional territories are called the Henvy Inlet First Nations (near French River, Ontario), as an OCAD University student Isaac has focused much of his work on narrative strategies and the “decolonization of picture making.” In this process, he has found significant support and inspiration from his professors Bonnie Devine and Julie Nagam.
Beyond completing his formal studies, Isaac’s longer-term goal is “to create a platform in Toronto for indigenous people to have longer-running arts exhibitions, creative workshops and seminars surrounding imagine-making and indigenous visual culture.”