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The Art Gallery of St. Albert (19 Perron Street, St. Albert, Alta.) is preparing to open Ripples of Loss, an exhibit of the works of artist Terry McCue.
The show opens Nov. 2 and runs to Dec. 2. McCue is an Ojibwa self-taught painter who takes inspiration from an array of influences. Born on Curve Lake Reserve in Ontario, McCue has spent much of his life working and living in First Nations communities, and his connection to them is clear in his work, reads a statement from the gallery.
The Ripples of Loss works are a vivid visual departure from McCue’s previous paintings. After an exchange with a friend, McCue became compelled to begin painting these intense, brilliantly colored images to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women.
The resulting somber and striking works emit the ghostly forms of the women dressed in red in an ever-changing landscape. McCue reveals the women in ceremonial attire: Ojibwa Jingle Dance dresses, Plains Cree tunics and cloaks. The skeletons of their spirit animals accompany them, sometimes leading the way, facing the incoming storm.
McCue views this new project as his most vital artistic endeavour, paying homage and reverence to the women and girls vanished through violence. For McCue, this project further explores his own spiritual calling to express the sacredness of all life.