Whenever Graham Pettman creates art he imbues a little of his own spirit into his work.
Over the last 50 years, Pettman has carved stone, put paint to canvas and whittled wood into beautiful works of art influenced by his First Nations heritage. This month at Parkside Gallery a wide selection of his work has been gathered into the show Spirit Works: Stories In Wood, Paint and Stone.
“Maybe it’s a way of showing off how versatile I am. Look at this, I can chew gum, walk and paint too,” Pettman, 84, remarked with a chuckle. “I’ve done a lot of shows in the past with wood and stone which people around here are more familiar with. I think some people don’t realize that I paint as well.”
Pettman said he’s been painting ever since he first got out of art school and over the years he steadily developed a distinctive native style of art. As a member of the Cree Nation, he said his identity shaped his art whether he used a paintbrush, pencil or a chisel. Spirit Works reflects this journey he was on.
“It was me working out my identity and this was the result in the different periods of my life.”
When you first enter Parkside Gallery your eyes are immediately drawn to the Warrior Man and Warrior Woman paintings. These striking pieces both portray Indigenous people who live rough on the streets, something Pettman had first hand experience with in his youth. While he doesn’t usually get political in his art he felt it was important to include them in the show.
“As an observer, often from the lens of an outsider and a visible minority, I try to share my perceptions through art, expressing the myriad side of myself as an individual but also as a human being: culture, core values, connection to nature, humour and current events,” Pettman said. “My goal is to not just do pretty art but to honour the medium and speak to viewers about what it means to be indigenous, to be a human being.”
Within the main gallery itself, Pettman has separated his paintings into district themes. One of them is the cigar store man, modeled after the old cigar store Indians that used to be a common sight in front of gas stations. Pettman said he was visiting Yuma, Arizona years ago and noticed “one of the worst examples” of a Cigar Store Indian that “looked like it was carved with a dull hatchet.”
“When I got back home I vowed for the next year or two to dignify the Cigar Store Indian making him more of a wizard and medicine man. That’s why he’s so prevalent.”
Another series of paintings depict Metis people dancing in traditional garb. Pettman said he goes to Manitoba every year to attend Metis celebrations and was inspired to capture some of the dances on canvas.
At one point, Pettman combined his love of vintage cars with his First Nations heritage. The result was several paintings paying homage to old car ads with people in First Nations dress driving them.
“There’s a bit of humour and whimsy to my paintings,” Pettman said. “I never take myself too seriously, I’ll throw a funny man into my paintings because that’s what the Trickster does, right? He teaches you through treachery and humour.”
Pettman said he is nervous but eager to hear what people think of his show. He welcomes anyone with critiques or feedback to give them honestly, noting he’s always down for a good debate.
“Plenty of artists live their calling daily, conduits of the flow of creativity. It can be easy to ignore this art because to understand it, you must allow yourself to be touched, to open yourself to the mysterious world of another. It is a gift offered from everyone who shares their creativity - an invitation to explore, to contemplate another’s insight, awareness and sensitivity.”
