June 19, 2025 – March 29, 2026
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- Digital Guide: Mary Anne Barkhouse: Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’am | My name is
Digital Guide: Mary Anne Barkhouse: Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’am | My name is
“Bookworm, punk rocker, metalsmith, installation artist, friend of animals, and foe to evil.”
Mary Ann Barkhouse
The demise of the storied Hudson’s Bay Company provides a moment to not merely reflect upon what constitutes a deep discount sale, but also how we have collectively arrived at this moment in history. Through twists and turns of empirical economic endeavour, personal circumstance and good old fashioned fate, we find ourselves at yet another critical juncture … for some it holds optimism for restitution and growth, with the return of species and communities to familiar territories, while for others there is the uncertainty wrought by uncontrollable and wildly erratic external forces.
Told through the viewpoint of the eyes, ears and whiskers of some of the species that have called north of 49 home, the works in Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’am | My name is are an invitation to explore these histories and consider what lies in the road ahead.
—Mary Anne Barkhouse
Curated by Mary Anne Barkhouse and Emily McKibbon
A good conversation should begin with an introduction. It’s important to situate ourselves, make the general specific, and acknowledge the being with whom one is speaking. Exchanging names is a sign that each person is willing to engage with the other in a way that is personal, respectful, and reciprocal.
Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’am | My name is holds many introductions. Artist Mary Anne Barkhouse brings works from AWE’s collection and introduces them to her own artworks. Barkhouse’s works feature creatures—some of whom, like the plains bison—are even now being reintroduced to their ancestral territories, returning home after many generations of absence. Some creatures shown here, such as coywolves—a hybrid of coyotes, wolves, and dog—thrive in our contemporary moment. Others—such as badgers—do not. Viewers enter and confront the artworks, bringing their own perspectives and experiences to these introductions. The gallery is a space of encounter.
This exhibition presents stories about this place where people, animals, and all our non-human relations meet. Some stories highlight resilience; others show vulnerability, stress, and the risks we run when we deny reciprocity and respect to everyone who shares our ecosystems. There are stories about what we keep and what we should return. Stories that offer paths towards more ethical ways of being. But Barkhouse asks that before hearing these stories, we begin by naming ourselves to their storyteller: Ndishnikaaz | Nugwa’am | My name is.
—Emily McKibbon, Head, Exhibitions and Collection
The Tapestries
Bison/Gate, 2021
Poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Last Defenders of the Realm, 2023
Poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Acta Sanctorum (the deeds of the saints), 2021
poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Monarchs and Other Wildlife, 2024
Poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Embassy, 2023
Poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Les vieilles connaissances, 2021
Poly/cotton, canvas, steel hanging rod
Succession II
Succession II, 2024
granite textures stoneware, tree section from Barkhouse family farm in Hants County, Nova Scotia, cast bronze maple sapling, moss, resin and feathers, cardinal
This piece, titled Succession II, is a cast stoneware Pioneer chainsaw, and is from the Idylls of the Boreal Wild series. The chainsaw is able to function as a tureen with the body of the chainsaw being the part that could hold soup or stew, and the chainbar can detach and be used as a place to serve your baguette (that would naturally go with your soup). Of course every household should have one….
The cross-section of tree that rests upon is a piece of a tree that came from the Barkhouse family homestead in Hants County, Nova Scotia, and was a significant landmark on the 300 acre farm. When it came down a few years ago some of my uncles got together and cut cross-sections for anyone in the family that wished some.
Both my Nova Scotia family, as well as my BC, family have some connection to the timber industry, as my BC grandfather had worked as a logger as well as a fisherman back in the day, and my Nova Scotia grandfather had a small mill on his farm property which helped support the family, and employed a few local people as well.
The legs of the “table” are maple saplings that have been cast in bronze, and overall the piece is meant to reflect on the cycles of nature as well as industry and if you look closely you can see that I have fabricated new teeth for the chainbar, replacing the usual cutting components with symbols of Western European monarchies such as the fleur-de-lis and crowns. Perhaps too obvious, but nonetheless acutely sharp cutting devices.
And the little red bird is a vintage Christmas decoration that I pilfered from my mother’s stash when she wasn’t looking … acting upon my inner-magpie nature ….
Feast I
Feast I, 2024
bronze, wood cyanotype on cotton and silk
The images contained on the top of the cans of salmon rendered in silk are family photos, many taken in the 50’s (before my time!) but also many taken during the 60’s up until present. This first iteration of the installation debuted at the Pasapkedjiwanong exhibition that I had with Olivia Whetung at the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts pop-up gallery on 50 Sussex Drive.
The underlying concept of these, and additional cyanotype and embroidered images that will be added in the months to come, is the importance of stability for the network of family and community and the natural ecosystems that sustain them, as illustrated by the connection of salmon as a traditional food source for Indigenous communities, both human and wild.
Currency
Currency, 2025
brronze, glass/neon, acrylic housing
Works from the Collection
Mike MacDonald, Eastern Butterflies, Quilt #1, 1996, laser print transfer on cotton, 148.0 cm x 223.0 cm, Purchased with support of the Canada Council's Acquisition Assistance program, 1997
Dirck Dircksz van Santvoort, Portrait of Three Children, ca. 1645, oil on canvas, 164.0 cm x 127.0 cm, Given in memory of Kenneth E. Fleming by his wife and children, 1966
William George Richardson Hind, Portrait of Major-General Charles Baillie, Colonel of H.M. 3rd Ceylon Regiment, date unknown, oil on canvas, 46.0 cm x 56.0 cm, Gift of Mrs. Duncan C. Hind, 1963
Abraham Brueghel, Still Life with Parrot and Monkey, 1677, oil on canvas, 174.0 cm x 127.0 cm, Bequest of Mrs. Gilbert Barrett, 1971
Bertram Brooker, The Fish, 1939, oil on canvas, 51.0 cm x 41.0 cm, Purchase, 1985
F. McGillivray Knowles, Chihuahua, 1893, drypoint on paper, 20.0 cm x 18.0 cm, Gift of Paul Duval, 1967
Peter Ussuqi Anauta, Sea Otter, date unknown, stone, 15.0 cm x 20.0 cm, Gift of the Director's Fund, 1963
Joe Talirunili, White Owl and Lemming, 1962, stonecut on paper, 27/30, 44.0 cm x 49.0 cm, Gift of the Director's Fund, 1963
William George Richardson Hind, A: Three lambs; B: Cape John from River John (from The Pictou Sketchbook), 1876, A: graphite on paper; B: watercolour and gouache on paper, 15.0 cm x 9.0 cm, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Heath, 1967
Larry Towell, Nicaragua Series 1984-1986 (Woman Colling Parrot, Managua, Niicaragua), 1984, gelatin silver print, 35.0 cm x 28.0 cm, Gift of the artist, 2002
Mary Wrinch, Sparrows, ca. 1928, linocut on paper, Gift of The Gordon Conn - Mary E. Wrinch Trust, 1970
Etidlooie Etidlooie, Aircraft Becoming Sea Animals, 1981, colour lithograph on paper, 30/50, 67.0 cm x 51.0 cm, Purchase, 1984
Jessie Oonark, Untitled (Arctic hares and rabbits), 1978, coloured pencil on paper, 76.0 cm x 57.0 cm, Gift of the Director's Fund, 1986
About the Artist
Mary Anne Barkhouse was born in Vancouver, BC but has strong ties to both coasts as her mother is from the ‘Namgis band, Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation of Alert Bay, BC and her father is of German and British descent from Nova Scotia. She is a descendant of a long line of internationally recognized Northwest Coast artists that includes Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin and Charlie James. She graduated with Honours from the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and has exhibited widely across Canada and the United States.
As a result of personal and family experience with land and water stewardship, Barkhouse’s work examines ecological concerns and intersections of culture through the use of animal imagery. Inspired by issues surrounding empire and survival, Barkhouse creates installations that evoke consideration of the self as a response to history and environment.
A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Barkhouse’s work can be found in numerous collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, Remai Modern in Saskatoon and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. In addition she has public art installations in many cities across Canada, including ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ Indigenous Art Park (Edmonton, AB), the Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau, QC), and Carleton University (Ottawa, ON).
Barkhouse currently resides in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario.
