Madison Dewar - Remembrance

In my work, I have been exploring exchanges of intimacy between people and the landscape they are a part of. In particular, I am drawn to representing historical queer identities paired with iconic Canadiana imagery. In my painting practice, I attempt to realign homosexuality as a historical and organic category, situating couples within the Canadian landscape.

To rekindle this sense of intimacy between myself and my subject matter, I began collecting plants native and local to my surroundings and using them to create natural inks. I have focused in more closely on the use of raspberry ink, due to its vibrant pink colour- a loaded signifier within queer communities.

Embracing alternative sexual identities is not always safe. This was especially true for people in the past, when deviation from the norm was not always tolerated. Climbing a mountain can be a transformative experience. Reaching the summit can fill you with a sense of purpose you didn’t realize you needed and teach you about yourself. However, climbing is not without danger. Sometimes it can destroy you, or even take your life. This metaphor to sexuality is often serves as a background in many of my paintings and connects the body of work.

Throughout my work I have not been trying to inject a history where it did not exist, rather bring to light the erasure of such stories, and discuss why they were secluded for so long in the first place. Through nostalgic, bittersweet images, I regather and restructure these lost moments in time, in an attempt to resurface what has been forgotten.