Nature Coming Together 

Curator: Here we have a painting called “Nature Coming Together” by Norval Morrisseau, seemingly acrylic on canvas. Immediately I’m drawn to how these simplified forms and vivid colors play with materiality, making the flat picture plane almost pop-like. Curator: Absolutely. And I read so much into it – a kind of layered depiction that speaks to intersectionality and the interconnectedness of all beings. I mean, just look at the composition: it’s so obviously making a statement about community. Curator: Yes, and looking closer, the visible brushstrokes reveal a hand-made quality that undermines the flattening effect of the vibrant blocks of color. You see the mark of the artist here, not the remove you might get in printmaking. This feels deliberately crafted and made to signify an individual’s relationship with the work. Curator: And Morrisseau, as an Indigenous artist, powerfully uses these visual motifs and layering to re-center Indigenous worldviews. We see here an assertion of identity, resistance to colonial narratives, and the resurgence of cultural traditions often suppressed. Look how these figures press together, as if to shield each other from a common external pressure. Curator: That resonates for me in terms of the bold outlines defining each form, emphasizing their shared mass. What I find curious is the treatment of each animal figure. It almost presents a systematic display—the visual product as part of a wider economic system. I keep thinking about how these paintings, in turn, were traded and circulated… Curator: Precisely. It also pushes back against the stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people and their relationship to the land that are all too common. Each layer and shape in this canvas is imbued with profound cultural memory and spiritual significance that invite us to challenge conventional modes of understanding, reclaiming agency through self-representation. Curator: Thinking of materials in circulation, I wonder where Morrisseau sourced his paints, his canvases... These considerations, as banal as they seem, ground the artwork within material supply chains and global economies that are integral to art production, then and now. Curator: And situating it historically, consider the legacy of colonization, commodification, and the resulting socio-political inequalities and the role of art, such as this example by Morrisseau, as a critical tool for decolonization, allowing silenced voices to finally resonate. Curator: Absolutely. Examining this piece offers an understanding of not only artistic creation but also how artwork can become a powerful tool of representation when we consider the tangible means with which it came to exist. Curator: Exactly. Ultimately, “Nature Coming Together” encourages us to re-evaluate not just what art *is*, but what art *does* in reshaping cultural narratives and challenging the very structures that silence them.