Literature
Sarah Milroy, “Big Av's art world” (online), Globe and Mail, May 25, 2005
Johanne Sloan, Joyce Wieland (online publication), Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2014, pages 3-10 and 40
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Joyce Wieland was particularly productive as she fervently explored various materials, media and theories of tactility in art. She asserted herself politically, engaging herself in issues of nationalism, feminism and ecology. This “White Snow Goose of Canada” crest, an unnumbered multiple, intersects all of these issues while the artist explored their mutual inclusivity.
Wieland raises questions on the impact of pollution and politics on the ecology of Canada and what this means to defining Canadian identity. Of particular importance here, is the protection of Canadian wildlife as their endangerment is symptomatic of larger issues of environmental change and industry growth. This piece poses questions: Is selling our natural resources and industry to the United States, for instance, in fact selling a part of our identity? Can we identify as Canadian while this piecemeal process takes place? Wieland explored these questions while negotiating the close relationship between ecology and nationalism. For the artist, these issues were inextricably linked. This crest operates as an intersection of nationalism, ecology and politics while also commenting on women's place as an artist.
Working with fabrics and threads, Wieland explores the tense question of craft versus art and the materials women traditionally used in art. Historically, needlework, sewing and working with fabrics to create decorative items for the home was associated with women's work and not necessarily 'fine art'. Wieland, however, made it her artistic mission to use this traditionally accepted notion and turn it on its head, elevating the use of textile within the greater dialogue of fine art and women's place in the art historical cannon. Therefore, the patch also operates as a subversive feminist piece. Moreover, while exploring the use of textile and mixed media in her works, “Wieland challenged the notion that art should occupy a protected cultural space, removed from politics and daily life.” In this sense, Wieland breaks the accepted norms of artistic value rooted solely in formal aesthetics and moves towards critical exploration of politics in visual art.
One of these crest multiples was exhibited in Joyce Wieland’s “True Patriot Love” solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in July 1971. Another one of these multiples was exhibited in "Closet Collector" exhibition at the Textile Museum in 2005 – an exhibit celebrating Av Isaac's love of textiles. There appears to be another of this multiple in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, PEI.
