Brenda Draney

The artworks Tulip, Vacuum, Ingrid and Wake by Brenda Draney were part of the exhibition Tell me about ~~yesterday~~ tomorrow (Nov. 28, 2019 until Oct. 18, 2020).

Brenda Draney (born in Edmonton in 1976) develops her works based on her experiences as a member of the Sawridge First Nation, whose history has been shaped by experiences of colonial violence and cultural uprooting. She explores processes of remembrance and forgetting, and examines how individually and collectively experienced events are shaped into narratives. Her paintings, which are highly stripped down in formal terms, invite viewers to piece the painted fragments together into their own stories.

Tulip, 2019

Oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm

Vacuum, 2019

Oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm

Ingrid, 2019

Oil on canvas, 51 x 64 cm

Wake, 2019

Oil on Arches paper, 56 x 76 cm

Brenda Draney’s pictures are based on personal recollections and private accounts from contemporary witnesses. The fears and trauma that she has experienced herself, or observes in those around her, are frequent subjects. Draney’s intuitive, gestural drawings address experiences of discrimination, illness, death, and the feeling of losing a loved one or close friend. The protagonists of her pictures often stand alone, unprotected, and seem extremely vulnerable. A member of the Cree indigenous group of the Sawridge First Nation in Alberta, Draney uses her art to convey a sense of loss of security and the associated vulnerability that many First Nations people in Canada have experienced. She deliberately uses blank spaces to open up room for subjective interpretation, spark empathy, and invite viewers to contribute their own stories and experiences.