Judith Currelly: Recent Works

by Liane Davison, 1986

from Art in Victoria 1960-1987 by Nicholas Tuele and Liane Davison, exhibition catalogue for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

"The physical landscape is baffling in its ability to transcend whatever we would make of it. It is as subtle in its expression as turns of the mind, and larger than our grasp; and yet it is still knowable. The mind, full of curiosity and analysis, dissassembles the pieces... trying the fathom its geography."
Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams, Collier McMillan Canada Inc., 1986

Since European settlement began, landscape painting has played a significant role in the perception and understanding of Canada. From topographical sketches by the first explorers to the innovations of the Group of Seven and contemporary artists such as Patterson Ewen, images of Canada have provided a vital means through which we can embrace, identify and even "love" our vast homeland. Judith Currelly's painting, inspired by the heroic landscape of Northern Canada, follows in this tradition. Her work describes not only the physical qualities and sublime energy of coastal regions, mountains and flatlands but also introduces, into this environmental theatre, the symbolic "individual".

Currelly's exploration of BC and the Yukon began 17 years ago in 1972 when she left Toronto by train to discover for herself the "Mythic North". This was followed in subsequent years by the experience of a winter alone in an isolated cabin 100 miles north of Watson lake and the construction of her own log cabin in the Logan Mountains on the Northwest Territories/Yukon border. Her lifestyle and choice of residence ultimately resulted in Currelly purchasing a small bush plane in 1976 and earning her commercial pilot's license. Since that time, she has divided each year between flying in the North during the summer and painting in an urban centre during the winter.

Since Currelly's initial settlement in the North, her paintings have been characterised by their monumental scale, manipulated horizon, stylised environmental forms and subdued color. They are particularly distinguished from traditional landscape imagery by their tactile surfaces and specific use and application of materials. These physical qualities, in addition to the imagery, invite the viewer to experience the artist's feelings about the northern landscape.

Currelly uses sheets of 1/2 inch plywood as the support for her paintings. With layered surfaces formed to describe horizontal rows of mountains, or the vertical strata of canyons, these works can, in a gallery environment, recreate similar plays of light and shadow as found on actual landforms. The possibilities offered by the wood are further explored using power tools. The inherent layers of the material are revealed by scraping, scoring and bevelling the surface to imply the organic patterns of earth and water. With the application of colour, Currelly again exposes the support material, this time by using stains which define the wood grain. The resultant paintings are loaded with signifiers of the living landscape.

In Currelley's recent paintings, an androgynous figure encounters this landscape. Without features or clothing, the figure could be seen as vulnerable within the vast theatre of the environment. However, despite its nakedness, its careful placement and posture signify the figure as belonging in this space, separate and fragile perhaps, but courageous and "centered" nevertheless.

An analogy can be drawn between the relationship of these figures and the land and Currelly's own experience of living in the North — specifically her experiences flying. Currelly's relationship with nature has a dual quality: respect and caution generated by the practical aspects of flying, coupled with an often fearless curiosity and love for the natural environment. She wote,

"Last fall, while flying through some of the most treacherous, desolate, forbidding-looking country - places like the Ragged Range of the Nahanni and the sea-fogged, windy Arctic Coast - I felt a surprising tenderness and respect for this environment and a strong sense of security and belonging. Yet, at the same time I remember being aware of the limits of my ability and the precariousness/ incongruity of the actual position we were in."

Before she knew the logistics of flying, Currelly recalls that she could "innocently love wild wind and weather, spaces and places". Her gaze on the environment was that of the voyeur, the passenger. Now, faced with the real responsibilities of flying a small plane to attain her private view of the earth, she must remain constantly aware of the conditions that allow her gaze, and of her tools for survival. An aspect of fantasy, or magic, had to be exchanged for knowledge. When flying, her gaze is directed at the beauty and drama of the earth, but she must often reevaluate the things she sees and experiences in terms of technology and human error.

"One of the things that really concerns me, and that is obvious from the air, is the way in which we have "used" the earth (with clearcut logging, mining, industrial pollution, greed). I think that our survival depeneds on a change of attitude - an awareness of the interdependence of human beings and nature. That's really what these paintings are about - about being there - feeling, hearing, seeing and depending on nature - not manipulating it and trying to change it.

"The paradoxical thing about flying (and painting, for that matter) is that it depends on technology and manipulation of the environment to a certain extent. But it also depends on feeling and intuition and a respect for where you are. You may want to - even feel you have to - get from A to B, but you always have to accept that the weather, the terrain, the air can change your course - you're not going to change them. If you try, there is a good chance you'll end up dead!"

Currelly's paintings are acts of reverence towards the awesome beauty and spectacular visual phenomenon of the North. They are also statements of longing, for intimacy and a deeper understanding of that environment. The figure is the symbol of this emotional conscious desire. By their acts of contemplation and investigation, they appear to accept without demanding compromise. They belong without interfering.

"They need to be naked, unprotected, alone, in order to be on an equal footing with the landscape, to keep the balance. Clothes - metaphorically - represent our defences, pretences, social props and personae. The paintings aren't about these things. They (the figures) are faceless, asexual, solitary souls making contact witht the spirits of Nature - sometimes a bit fearfully, or with tentative curiosity - sometimes with reckless abandon. They aren't looking out from their "space" at the viewer. They seem instead to be involved in a kind of private, primordial experience, a discovery, of what - place? soul?"

Judith Currelly's paintings speak about finding a relationship with Nature and the environment. they are optimistic enactments of an innocent encounter and of ultimate discovery.

Liane Davison was an independent curator, writer and teacher living in Victoria at the time of this writing. All quotes by the artist are from interviews between the artist and the author in 1987 and 1989..