The Shurniak Art Gallery held an exhibit opening and hosted a meet-the-artists afternoon on October 1 in Assiniboia.
The exhibit Prairie Winds: The Sculptor and The Poet proved to be a unique combination of word and visual art 鈥� bronze sculptures by Ken Frederickson and the poetry and paintings of Ovide Mercredi. The event was hugely successful attracting visitors from all over Saskatchewan as well as from Manitoba. The exhibit runs at the Shurniak Gallery until November 25.
The gallery event included poetry readings by Merceredi. Frederickson spoke about the collaboration of the two artists. 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to have this show at the Shurniak Art gallery.鈥� He returned to Assiniboia, after participating in the artists鈥� retreat in July. Mercredi also presented Bill Shurniak with an eagle feather, a Cree symbol of appreciation. Mercredi and Frederickson unveiled a large bronze statue of two eagles locked in battle over a fish with a poem. Mercredi wrote the poem using the themes of human greed and superpowers battling over resources. Following the unveiling, guests were invited to view the exhibit and mingle with the artists.
Both the bronze subjects and poetry themes flow from the backgrounds of the two. Frederickson is from Wawota and has spent almost 30 years as a professional photographer of rodeos, ranching and wildlife travelling across Canada and the U.S. Federickson was inspired to sculpt many years ago when viewing a display at the Calgary Stampede鈥檚 Western Art Show. He considers himself an emerging, self-taught artist only casting his first bronze in 2015. Since then, he has sculpted 57 different works, including commissioned pieces. For example, he was asked to make a bronze for the Canadian Top Auctioneer award for the Livestock Markets Association of Canada among others. In the bronzes on display at the gallery, Frederickson perfectly captures the natural movements and postures of the wildlife.
Perhaps more amazing is Frederickson鈥檚 technique. He first sculpts the subjects in clay or wax working by his visual memory of the wildlife that he has photographed for many years. A mold of this sculpture is made which is used to cast the bronze. It鈥檚 a technique that is similar to developing a negative of photographic film 鈥� a method that Frederickson well understands.
Ovide Mercredi is perhaps more familiar to the gallery visitors as a politician, activist, lawyer and former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. However, he is also a poet, channeling topics from social advocacy and politics into art. While Mercredi鈥檚 poetry uses themes and symbols directed firstly to his own community, his works also carry universal messages about the human condition. For example, in his poem Arrow that he read at the opening, the lost arrow serves as a metaphor for dependency and gaining independence.
The collaboration between the two friends, Frederickson and Mercredi, was inspired by a poem that Mercredi wrote about his grandmother. He shared the poem Sacred Surround with Frederickson who created a bronze interpretation of the poem called Nookum. Thus was born an exhibit in which Mercredi wrote poems interpreting Frederickson鈥檚 bronzes and bronzes became interpretations of poetry. The exhibit includes over a dozen sculptures with poems as well some paintings by Mercredi keeping the wildlife theme. Like his poetry, Mercredi鈥檚 paintings offer specific guidance for his community but share enduring themes for broader humanity.
