At the Skew Gallery in Calgary Alberta in 2009, Diana Thorneycroft made her debut with her new exhibit featuring a series of works on Canadian Nationalism. The artist combines a painting from the famous Canadian Group of Seven with other objects telling a story about the Canada we all know so well and the Canada that non-Canadians think they know. What makes her artwork so unique is that she brings dark humour into the sometimes awkward discourse of Canadian nationalism. The following are the three works that stood out to me:
In “Northern Lights (2007)”, we see a group of children playing in the snow with a close up of an Aboriginal girl by an igloo, and in the background we see an RCMP officer. This is a classic example of what Americans and other people around the world insist on what Canada is actually like.
“Beavers and Woo at Tanoo (2008)” confronts what many discourses on Canadian nationalism acknowledge but mostly try to avoid. It shows a Canadian lumberjack holding a chainsaw with his gang of beavers with what looks like a disaster zone of broken down Totem poles and a destroyed land. This represents the Indigenous past Canadians know about but try to avoid when talking about Canada’s heritage. The comic relief comes from the lumberjack with the beavers, which are also two of the biggest stereotypical assumptions of Canadians that people from other parts of the world have.
“March Storm, Georgian Bay (2007)” is a comical depiction of a Canadian get together during a good old March snow storm. With bears and other woodland creatures on one side and congregating community members on the other, a hockey game proceeds in the middle. This symbolizes the nationalism of hockey and how it brings people together, no matter where they are or what the weather holds.
What makes Thorneycroft’s artwork so valuable to Canadian Society is that she opens up a new discourse through her art. She does not ignore the sensitive topics that arise in Canadian nationalism discourses; she tackles some of the issues of Canada’s past and then throws in a Tim Horton’s cup to add to the comic relief. By using the serene backdrop of Canadian landscape with the Group of Seven paintings combined with symbols of nationalism like hockey, Tim Horton’s, and community, she gives us a representation of the Canada we all know and love. She then adds symbols of disaster like guns and torn down trees from snowstorms to show that Canada is not perfect.
What stood out to me the most is the reality she adds to her art which confronts anxiety in Canadian society while still having a sense of humour. I also respect her as an artist because she is respectful of all cultures, histories and perspectives of Canadian history.
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