Patricia Deadman

Over the years, my work has remained consistent in its use of land as a metaphor for culture and the baggage we tend to carry with us in our daily lives. The Alpine Canadian Club’s A.O. Wheeler Hut in Glacier National Park, BC provided a specific place in history to interpret a century of shared colonial and mountain culture. 

Constructs of self, tolerance, migration, privilege, and commodity are just a few of the threads that weave my personal narrative together, combined with the intangible sensory perception of sounds and smells. For this work, I drew inspiration from the contemporary writing of poet Jon Whyte as well as the contributions of early women trailblazers such as photographer Mary Schaffer and poet Pauline Johnson. Depending on who is telling the story, place provides a point of departure to recover, reclaim and maintain the personal balance that ultimately embodies the concept of resilience. 

– Patricia Deadman