AGNS - Art Sales & Rentals, August Feature Artist
.jpg "Alan Syliboy, AGNS Invitation")
An established Mi’kmaq artist, Alan Syliboy’s work is influenced by the
indigenous Mi'kmaq rock drawing and quill weaving traditions. Working in
acrylic and mixed media, Alan creates vibrantly coloured images
exploring the themes of family, searching, spirituality, struggle, and
strength. The use of layering symbols and mark making creates depth and
texture in Alan’s work.
“Like many others in my generation, I
grew up believing that Native art was generic - what you see on TV and
in other mass media. Visual expressions are part of what makes a culture
unique, and, although Mi'kmaq designs are similar to other North
American woodland tribes, you can easily recognize the difference. I
looked to the indigenous Mi'kmaq petroglyph tradition for inspiration
and developed my own artistic vocabulary out of those forms.
This
purely Mi'kmaq vocabulary has allowed my brush and pen to lead me to
images of family, ‘memory portraits’ of my relatives, and the creation
of new faces in the flow of constellations and galaxies. I celebrate the
past, present, and future of strong family ties in a series of spritely
images that suggest the fantasies of Klee and Miro, but whose artistic
roots are firmly twined around the rocks found in the ancient grounds of
Nova Scotia.”
It has been a busy year for Alan Syliboy. Alan
was invited to participate in the cultural Olympiad at the 2010 Olympic
Winter Games in Vancouver, BC. The resulting twelve panels, entitled People of the Dawn,
is a visual journal of the Mi’kmaq people in their traditional
environment. The mural was flown to Vancouver in July 2009 to be
permanently installed in the Trout Lake Community Centre, which was used
for figure skating training sessions during the Winter Games. More
recently, Alan presented a painting to Queen Elizabeth II of England
during the Grand Chief Membertou Celebrations in Halifax in June 2010.
Recently, Alan created an animated short, “Little Thunder”, which was also displayed at the Winter Games and the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy in July 2010. Besides painting, Alan also works in sculpture and pottery.