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Countless pairs of painted eyes peer outward from the walls of an art gallery in St. Walburg, Sask., gazes that are met by town residents who are viewing artworks that portray themes like schizophrenia, fragility and strength of the heart.
As rain drizzled down, the inside of the 105-year-old church — home of the Susan Velder Gallery & More art gallery — was brimming with laughter, conversation and contemplation.
“People are tired of thinking of mental health issues as dirty little secrets,” Deb Kerr-Goodfellow, co-founder of the gallery, located just 60 kilometres east of the Alberta border, told CBC News. “That’s sort of an antiquated idea.”
Invisible Winds features the work of 19 Saskatchewan artists, and is named for the forces that shape the lives of those around us, often unseen and unspoken.
Curated by artist and gallery director Dean Bauche and supported by the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC), the exhibit explores real life stories of mental health struggles.
WATCH | New touring exhibition features mental health-focused art:
Art exhibit brings mental health into focus
A touring exhibition, featuring work of well-established and up-and-coming Saskatchewan artists that focuses on mental health, has blown into the church-turned-art gallery in the small town of St. Walburg, Sask., 60 kilometres east of the Alberta border — just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month.
The words of decorated Canadian author David A. Robertson serve as an introductory essay to the collection. Robertson, best known for his autobiography All The Little Monsters, which details his own battles with depression and anxiety, said vulnerability is necessary to shake the stigma, and bring the invisible to the forefront.
“Art is story, and stories save lives. I know this as an incontrovertible fact,” wrote Robertson. “It’s not just about the art on the walls, but the lives behind it — the stories, the pain, the resilience, and the hope.”
For artists like Bonny Macnab, Invisible Winds is a chance to spark conversations.
Bonny Macnab, an artist based in Mervin, Sask., said using her brother as a subject was an important way to represent the nuances and stigmas surrounding men’s mental health. (Lexi Freehill/CBC)
“Artists are really privileged to have art to express themselves and to be able to open up subjects that relate to other people,” said Macnab. “Maybe they’ll relate in different manners, but it’s still relatable.”
One of her pieces, featuring her brother as the subject, delves into the marks left on children of alcoholic parents. She said the act of creating revealed a motif she hopes others can embrace.
“When I went to do the medium background, I used old [sewing] patterns by chance, but it was really like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s old patterns — this is what we could also repeat if we’re not aware of what we’re doing.’”
Holly Hildebrand’s woven art uses cotton thread to symbolize connections. Her artwork tells the story of her adoptive sister’s search for familial and cultural ties to an identity seemingly out of reach, and her niece’s battles with PTSD.
The stitched, textural portraits represent the threads of intertwined lives, while the backsides of the pieces tell another story altogether.
“It kind of shows that more fragile side with all the hanging, delicate threads, and it’s to sort of speak about the different sides that we show of ourselves,” said Hildebrand.
“The tough sides that we show to the world, the more delicate sides that we hide within ourselves.”
A second piece by Hildebrand explores the story of her sister’s daughter, who struggled with PTSD. The hanging threads and grungy, textural elements speak to the hard exterior put on to face the world,while the back side tells a more delicate story. (Lexi Freehill/CBC)
Written descriptions of the art’s meanings are provided to help viewers understand the deeper themes, and the stories that inspired the creations. Audio messages featuring artists and subjects explaining their stories in their own voices can also be played by scanning a QR code.
Kerr-Goodfellow said the community reaction on opening night was an encouraging one, and she hopes visitors will see the silver linings behind the heavy subjects explored.
“I think arts can heal, and I think when you’re looking at some of these pictures, you get the idea of how there were struggles for this person.
“But you can also see the resilience and hope in a lot of these pictures.”
The Invisible Winds exhibit will be displayed at the Susan Velder Gallery & More until June 28, and will travel to galleries across the province for the next three years, before its stories are preserved in book form.
A list of galleries hosting the touring exhibit can be found on the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Council’s website.