Oraison / Orison 2014. Oboro Gallery, Montreal, QC
November 8 – December 13, 2014
“Orison deals with the indelibility of memory and how events live on in our physical bodies,” notes Nadia. It is a place of remembering open to the Other; a prayer to be made or heard. In a gesture of gratitude, the image of a string-wrapped stone at the opening of the exhibition evokes the memory of grandfathers wisely guiding us towards a state of contemplation and listening. The installation plunges us in an indistinct, semi-dark space. The black walls push back physical boundaries and every- thing lurking in the dark appears in a state of weightlessness. A beacon sweeps across the space, progressively highlighting the stages you must cross to reach the state of orison. The first reference point is a red fishing net, hanging from the ceiling, which in an up-and-down motion releases what must be let go. Held down by stones whose circular arrangement recalls a sweat lodge ceremony, it gives breath to and punctuates the rhythm of our ascension. Breath in.
Seven large aluminum plates on which are mounted the digitized images of the unseen side of Indian Act are arranged on the walls around the room. Red thread unites them, recalling the link between all things. Seven—for the seven sacred teachings whose principles focus on harmony rather than individualism. Or for the generations before and after us. On these black plates that melt into the surrounding space, white thread materializes the beaders’ impassive gestures. The marks are the signs of a primordial language, of words yet unspoken. It lets out an orchestrated whisper of voices chanting the scars’ written secrets. They are the sound and breath needed to exult. Breath out.
— Text by Gina Antonozzi, translation: Colette Tougas
https://e-artexte.ca/id/eprint/26056/1/opuscule_N_Myre_en.pdf
