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All the Nations Came Together Putting Away the Magic, by Jut-ke-Nay\u2013Hazel-Wilson.<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s Golden Spruce Tree series of 17 blankets had only been displayed in full at the Marion Scott Gallery once before. The History Robes are an even grander collection of the artist\u2019s reimagining of the creation process. Wilson followed traditional design for the first three decades of her career before departing into a bold new direction in design.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we typically call button blankets or robes are ceremonial garments meant to be worn that typically depict an individual\u2019s family or clan\u2019s crest imagery, so it is a real identifier of where someone is from and who they belong to,\u201d he said. \u201cThe History Robes are a departure in multiple ways, beginning with the formal materials traditionally used in their creation such as abalone, shells and so on. For these robes, Hazel used acrylic paints, different kinds of fabrics and other things to create these narrative, historical scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n
By doing this with her designs, Wilson departed from her original training in making clan-based blankets or appliqu\u00e9d Chilkat clothing. Her choice to expand her traditional training wasn\u2019t taken lightly, but once she began to do the more narrative and representational style, she continued with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot going on with these robes, in terms of the time span depicting both pre-European contact and afterwards,\u201d said Jordan Wilson. \u201cThere are stories that were imparted to her by family elders as she was growing up, very specific land-based practices in specific areas of the Haida landscape that she would have directly experienced growing up and things she re-elected upon about the impacts and ramifications of first contact in her writings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both the number of robes and the significant time span that their designs depict presented a puzzle for Jordan Wilson to work out when deciding on how best to arrange the exhibit. He says the combination of both lived and learned histories in the material posed the question of whether to go for a timetable based around the robes\u2019 creation dates or something more thematic.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike other exhibits, I knew from the start that I had a very specific body of work to include,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more I read the stories she wrote to go along with the robes, the more I grappled with the question because she never sequenced the robes. Sometimes it gets slippery, because a story might start in the past and then finish up in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The solution was to arrange the works thematically, really trying to co-ordinate the final layout with her writings and notes.<\/p>\n
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The Mistake (2006), by Jut-ke-Nay-Hazel Wilson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have eight or nine sections, which I feel have kind of a flow between the gravity of what is being depicted in the more difficult and challenging histories and the more regular moments,\u201d he said. \u201cFor instance, there is a robe depicting her waiting to be taken away to residential school and another dealing with the waves of smallpox epidemics and first contacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then there are robes that are capturing these joyful childhood experiences with narratives about ancestors that are very rich in their teaching and the values being imparted.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the interesting things about all of the History Robes series is how Wilson made them. Once she had decided on the materials to be included in the piece, she would began without any pre-planned idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the things that makes them all the more impressive, how she would just have this picture in her mind\u2019s eye and just start doing it,\u201d he said. \u201cHer daughters talk about going to thrift shops to look for materials like mother-of-pearl buttons and other items, and that is where we took the name for the exhibit. In one of her writings, Hazel talks about how to use or repurpose things like old shirts and other material and she writes, \u2018I use my Haida eyes.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
I Use My Haida Eyes: The History Robes of Jut-ke-Nay-Hazel Wilson runs until Oct. 12. Tickets and information at moa.ubc.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n