When I Heard the Recent Horrific News. Fyre Jean Graveline. Response Art.
CATA Keynote 2021.
Sharing (belatedly and with permission), response artwork and introduction to the poetic inquiry by Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline who was our keynote speaker at the Canadian Art Therapy Association’s Conference in November 2021, alongside my response art to her powerful keynote presentation.
I feel so honoured to share both the art and links to this virtual gallery so others can listen or read her poetry again, to reflect on the message, and become more aware. Please visit the Wheat Memorial Gallery to listen to the poetic inquiry in its entirety and to view the response art created by Fyre Jean Graveline and all the powerful art works created by conference participants and other artist contributors.
WHEAT Memorial Gallery. Acknowledging & Honouring.
“We are creating this Memorial Gallery to acknowledge the pain, grief, outrage, shame and blame currently being resurfaced with the recent horrific news of the children found buried at what once was the site of the Kamloops Residential School. Simultaneously we wish to honor the trauma and the strength of Survivors and Descendants and bring much needed attention the ongoing Legacy of the Indian Residential School Era, to make visible the continuing ripple effects into our shared worlds today, and to commit to ongoing reconcileActions to do our part to bring awareness to and make change in all of our circles of influence. ”
When I Heard the Recent Horrific News• Poetic Inquiry• Dr. Fryre Jean Graveline.
“To encourage the launch of the Memorial Gallery, Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline, Lead of Indigenized Healing Arts Programming at WHEAT Institute, wishes to offer this Response Art, an Eco-Art Image, created with Food Paints, with an accompanying Poetic Inquiry.”
Image Credit: Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline • Response Art for Poetic Inquiry
“When i Heard. The Recent Horrific News....
i Took it. Directly. to my Heart. my heARTs.
i Grabbed. my Food Paints. my BlueberryBeet. and Made. a Pour. on a Big Page. This. is a Big Event. Wake Up. Canada. i Pray.
Swirl and Twirl. Flow and Shake. Shake. Shake. Shake. i am Shaking. All Shook Up. Oh. my Mind. is all in a Twirl. and Swirl. with all my Racing Thoughts.
Thoughts. Feelings. Impulses. Imaginings. What Ifs.
Thick and Stuck. BlueberryBeet Blob. finally Begins. Flowing Freely.
Mingled with my Tears. Moving. into yet Unknown Shape. Using end of Brush to Scrape. i Attempt. to Alter Flow.
No...BlueberryBeet. a Determined Medicine. will go Where.
They Flow. They Know”
Full Poetic Inquiry - Writing and Recording here.
“Response art is artwork created by art therapists in response to material that arises in their therapy work. Art therapists use response art to contain difficult material, express and examine their experiences, and share their experiences with others. ”
Response Art • ‘Listening’
Coffee and natural pigments were used for my initial watercolour painting, and black crayon marks were added to the wet paint. Although I often explore the eye image in my artwork (so that is not unusual), what was so interesting and unexpected in this process was that I had drawn a simple spiral form (and not an eye) and as these natural pigments spread and dried the spiral transformed into an iris.
Response Art to: When I Heard the Recent Horrific News • April • 2021
Response Art to: When I Heard the Recent Horrific News • April • 2021
Change and Transformation. Natural Pigments.
Right from the beginning of the creative process I noted that the small white dish that I had selected for my coffee paint mixture resembled the iris of an eye. During the webinar and zoom break-out rooms we shared for the processing of this experiential, we had touched base in our discussion about using natural pigments and the random shifts and changes that can occur as these natural materials begin to dry.
Throughout the day I noticed continued changes within the dish of coffee pigment, and decided to sequentially document these interesting iris variations. Even the reflections of light in the water add to the iris-like qualities of the paint dish.
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Wheat Memorial Gallery.
Wheat Memorial Gallery. https://www.wheatinstitute.com/memorial-gallery
WHEAT Institute Art & Expressive Arts Therapy Blog: https://www.wheatinstitute.com/blog/categories/art-therapy
Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline.
FACULTY: https://www.wheatinstitute.com/faculty
WHEAT Institute Art & Expressive Arts Therapy Blog • Indigenizing the Healing Arts with Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline
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CATA-ACAT 2021 Conference: Emergence: Cultivating Hope, Creating Change. News.
As discoveries are made, and more change and awareness is needed, I think it is important to continue to share these messages, reminders and response art.