Halie Finney, He’s having a one person picnic, 2020, Ink and acrylic on transparency, Image courtesy of the artist
Through Those Trees is a solo exhibition by artist Halie Finney. The artist explores generations of her Métis family’s narratives within the Lesser Slave Lake region where Finney grew up. In her work, Finney develops characters in order to recreate and reimagine happenings within her community and the surrounding land. Her characters link life and death, animate and inanimate to tell and imagine fictional and non-fictional narratives of her and her family’s lives.
Halie Finney is known for her illustrative narratives and development of characters that reflect stories, memories and people in her home community. Her narratives create a unique folklore, developing stories within the mediums of installation, film and performance. In this exhibition, the artist’s playful approach to illustration and layering imagery through transparencies creates dimensional, interconnected sagas for the characters. Finney’s work reflects narratives familiar to her and the locale in which she grew up but with the use of imagery common in many different regions of rural living. Through this approach, Finney allows the audience to link their own narratives to the work. Through Those Trees explores what and how it means to live, work, grow up in and be connected to a rural landscape in Alberta.
Curated by Becca Taylor, developed by the Alberta Society of Artists (TREX Region 3)
Cover image: Halie Finney, There, in the leaves, 2020, Ink and acrylic on transparency, Image courtesy of the artist