Catherine Blackburn: New Age Warriors
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Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery 461 Langdon Crescent, Crescent Park, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan S6H 0X6
Catherine Blackburn
Catherine Blackburn, "The Churchill Challenger," 2018
inkjet on dibond, 48" x 60"
Curated by Jesse Campbell; Organized by the Mann Art Gallery with the Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective (Prince Albert), Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Swift Current, and the Chapel Art Gallery.
Opening reception: February 8, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Artist talk: February 9, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Catherine Blackburn, of Dene and European roots, is part of a new generation of contemporary beaders on the prairies who has made a name for herself nationally and internationally in the past few years. Much of her earlier work, including 'But there's No Scar, Our Mother(s) Tongue, and Tell Me the Truth grapples with themes of loss and survivance, and similar concepts underpin this exhibition. Yet in many ways, this is a series that defies the spaces she has most commonly treaded. Presenting photography and beaded works together, New Age Warriors opens conversations about Indigenous innovation, ways to live on the land in the twenty-first century, and how love serves as a mighty force. With gear designed from plastic beads, Blackburn draws from the past and present to shape notions about an imagined future - a future filled with strong Indigenous women in protective Armour battling stereotypes and facing colonialism by channeling the power of love.
-Dr. Carmen Robertson (quote from the exhibition catalogue, New Age Warriors, 2018)