Lapland art amazes Fort William artist

Rick Garrick
Wawatay News
“It was midnight and the sun was still out.”
Fort William First Nation artist Christian Chapman was amazed at how long the sun stays up during a recent visit to Finland for an artist-in-residency program at the Arteles Creative Centre in Haukijarvi.
“While we were there we got to meet some of the Sami people,” Chapman said. “The Sami way of life totally revolves around the reindeer and reindeer herding, so a lot of their (traditional art) work directly comes from the reindeer.”
Chapman and his partner Jean Marshall, a Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug artist, travelled to Kaamanen in northern Finland during the program to learn about the Sami culture, artwork and crafts.
“It’s beautiful work,” Chapman said. “We got to see a lot of their traditional art while we were in Lapland.”
Chapman and Marshall also visited builders of traditional boats and sleighs while in Lapland.
“The traditional Sami boats ... are like maybe a rowboat but a little bit more streamlined,” Chapman said. “And their sleighs are — the Sami people have their own way of designing things ­–­ very unique in the way things are made for sure.”
Chapman completed a series of paintings and Marshall completed some beadwork during the program, which included artists from Hong Kong, Belgium, Spain, New York and Washington, D.C.
“It was a mixture of people who we were staying with and working with,” Chapman said. “There was a lot of collaboration so there was a group project that was done.”
Chaman’s paintings dealt with ideas of home from northwestern Ontario while Marshall’s beadwork involved a series of bird images.
“I was painting a series of works that explores the idea of seven sacred fires,” Chapman said. “We both did a lot of work while we were there.”
Unfortunately, Chapman and Marshall did not have an opportunity to participate in the group project because they had to leave early due to a family matter at home.
Chapman and the other artists all had their own workspaces in the Arteles Creative Centre.
“It was a really great place to get work done,” Chapman said. “And it was a great place to actually talk to other artists and get different world views because there were so many people from so many other places.”
Chapman and the other artists often held discussions around fires late into the night.
“Everyone would discuss different cultures and everyone would discuss languages and everyone would discuss politics and art practices,” Chapman said. “It was a great place to be; it was a great place to learn.”
Chapman said artist-in-residency programs allow artists to create without having to be concerned about their regular day-to-day lives back home.
“So you can be a lot more focused in these programs,” Chapman said.
Chapman is currently planning to attend another artist-in-residency program in New York during the month of August.
“It’s a couple of hours ride outside of Grand Central Station,” Chapman said, adding he plans to visit some art galleries while in New York. “For me it’s a dream. I’ve always wanted to check these art galleries out that I’ve heard about. It’s going to be an eye opener.”