Virtual Stories That Object Tell

A Sonder Illumination

Emily McNeill

Cold-pressed water colour paper, Winsor and Newton professional watercolours, watercolour pencils, gauche, glass seed beads, wax, cotton muslin, organza

2020

A Sonder Illumination draws from my own experiences in reclaiming my family’s Métis identity, commenting on the loss of our cultural identity and its re-emergence following the passing of my Grandfather. In the years following his death, I began to realize how much our family had truly lost. His passing had resulted in any knowledge, experiences, family history, and wisdom he carried being lost. The subject of this work is based on a candid photo taken of my Grandfather several years ago. I felt the lighting, and neutral muted colours invoked a powerful emotion, one hard to convey in simple words. The closest I could come to describing it is the aching familiarity and nostalgia of a time. This is similar to the feelings experienced when out in nature at evening, and it feels as though the world takes a breath with the end of the day’s hours. I wanted to convey that in this painting.

Several things had to be considered during the process of the painting’s construction. I had a desire to include traditional Métis beadwork, an artform I knew some of my ancestors had practiced. As I had only recently begun learning traditional beadwork, I wanted to contact a Métis elder to learn about traditional designs. My concern was the possibility of accidentally copying a sacred beading pattern or one that belonged to a particular family. When I started reaching out to different sources, I knew the possibility of contacting an elder might be challenging. This proved to be the case when a week and a half went by, and I had yet to reach an elder. This can be a genuine challenge for individual’s wanting to learn about their culture in city centers and something I struggle with daily. My only other option was to create a unique design based on common factors I found in traditional beadwork. Due to time constraints, the design had to be simplified quite a bit; and I did not start working on it until most of the painting and its colour pallet had been completed. I wanted the beading to compliment the colours used throughout the painting.

The image produced in the painting is a stylistic reinterpretation of the original, and the choice to not display the original photograph of my Grandfather is intentional. Memories are not a static thing, and they often change and alter as time goes by, so why should an interpretation of a memory be ‘exact’. The image was painted on cold-pressed watercolour paper with Winsor and Newton professional paints. After the painting was completed, the Métis beadwork was applied to cotton muslin cut out and then appliqued to organza, a shiny opaque fabric. This created a luminous and slight hazy effect to the image. The beadwork shows a central flower blooming, with smaller vines and florals sprouting away from it. This is a nod to the regrowth of traditional knowledge and culture in my family. A Sonder Illumination reflects my family’s history, future, and the impact individuals have on our narrative.

About Emily McNeill

Emily McNeill was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. A member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, she is currently working to reclaim her cultural identity. Emily tends to work in sculpture, using mixed media, materials, and techniques. Much of her work focuses on the expression of human identity, drawing from personal experiences and expressing them through the form of animals. Emily utilizes the viewer’s personal reactions and assumptions of the animal sculpted to shape the work’s perceived message. Two of her works, Reflection and Joy, won first place in their respective categories at the Calgary Stampede Art Show, with another work, Guardian, placing second. Emily is currently attending the University of Lethbridge to complete dual degrees in Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education, with a minor in Fine Arts Education.