Healing Journey: Art of Patricia June Vickers

Making sense of suffering in the family requires perseverance, patience, compassion, and a willingness to forgive. Meditation in nature, seated in stillness and quietness and waiting for the sacred teachings to emerge, is a necessary practice for transformation.

The paintings of Patricia June Vickers are mixed media on fibre and wood. They invite the viewer into a journey of inquiry into the cause-effect, action-reaction of events in history, moving from atrocities to the significance of Holy Communion coupled with colonization—a journaled account of re-membering the authentic self and the transformational power of the supernatural.

This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

ARTIST STATEMENT

“My interest in art came through a culture that is rich with symbolism, metaphors, grace and beauty. With roots in the United Kingdom on my mother’s side and Tsm’syen of the Northwest coast on my father’s side, inspiration was found in everyday life through my paternal grandparents and my older siblings and their cultural and artistic passions.

“I chose to study under different artists that inspired me, learning techniques and methods for watercolour, acrylic, oil, encaustic and cold wax. I work toward interpretation of lived experience through texture, hue, composition expressing the spiritual and supernatural. My goal with each painting is to create a piece that has healing medicine and portrays aspects of the actual interwoven with grace and mystery.” — Patricia June Vickers

ABOUT THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

The Canada Council for the Arts contributes to the vibrancy of a creative and diverse arts and literary scene and supports its presence across Canada and around the world. The Council is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to “foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.” The Council’s grants, services, initiatives, prizes, and payments support Canadian artists, authors, and arts groups and organizations. This support allows them to pursue artistic expression, create works of art, and promote and disseminate the arts and literature. Through its arts funding, communications, research, and promotion activities, the Council fosters ever-growing engagement of Canadians and international audiences in the arts. The Council’s Public Lending Right (PLR) program makes annual payments to creators whose works are held in Canadian public libraries. The Council’s Art Bank operates art rental programs and helps further public engagement with contemporary arts through exhibition and outreach activities. The Council is responsible for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, which promotes the values and programs of UNESCO to contribute to a future of peace, reconciliation, equity, and sustainable development.

canadacouncil.ca

The Dal Schindell Gallery is located at Regent College, which sits on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nation.