Description
Nadia Myre is a member of the Algonquin First Nation of Kitigan Zibi Anishnabeg. Through her artistic practice, she brings to light the social and political struggles of Indigenous peoples. Many of Myre’s artworks revolve around themes such as identity, language, desire and memory. Nadia Myre is fascinated with the communicative potential of abstract visual symbols. “There’s no such thing as decoration,” Nadia Myre has said, “everything means something.” Slit (2017) is part of her series entitled Scarscapes, which builds on her Scar Project (2005-2013) workshops. For Scar Project, Myre invited volunteers to sew and cut their personal scars (emotional, physical or cultural) onto small canvases. The result is a touching collection of deeply personal and at times heart-breaking declarations. By studying how people visually represent their sometimes abstract scars, the artist recognizes recurring shapes that are then simplified and beaded for the Scarscapes series in an effort to build a visual lexicon of pain and human resilience. Nadia Myre graduated from Camosun College (Victoria), Emily Carr School of Art (Vancouver) and Concordia University (Montreal). Her work is included in numerous collections such as the Mackenzie Art Gallery (Regina), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, National Gallery of Canada, and the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C.).