Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
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Bonnie Devine is a 2021 winner of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Alexander Seltzer.
A co-production of the Canada Council for the Arts and AMS Films. A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm's-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) "to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts."
For more information, visit: en.ggarts.ca
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Transcript:
For me, the way that I approach landscape is by walking, by actually engaging with the land, not just visually but in every sense. It’s not about finding that picturesque site. What I’m always interested in is the history of the place, the people who were there and what I try to do is actually talk about the land. You know what does the land remember? Is it possible that the land has a memory?
I was born in Toronto but raised up north with deep, deep family and community and spiritual connections, I would say, if that doesn’t sound too corny. I just feel deeply connected to the North. I’ve been engaged for many years thinking about the history of Ontario that we don’t know. Most of my life has been dedicated to trying to find that out for myself. And the artwork is sort of the ephemera that comes out of those research explorations.
My work is very personal to me. It’s a combination of walking on the land and travelling there. It’s taking photographic evidence of the site. It’s spending time there, sitting there, doing sketches, but more than that, it’s going to the library and getting books and reading everything I can about the history. And this is difficult in Ontario, of course, because we don’t have that many accounts that go further back than, say, Lord Simcoe. In the story of this land, that’s really quite recent.
You’re trying to access an even deeper history and this can be challenging but also incredibly inspiring. I think a lot of my work comes from that kind of combination of recorded knowledge, memory and dream.
When I was growing up, I watched my grandparents who were trappers. I saw the way that they handled materials—wood, reeds, fur—they were constantly modifying in order to give it another use. When thinking about how to make something in order to reflect what I’ve learned about a specific place or a specific thing, it usually comes to me kind of intuitively. I’ll see something like these pine needles. And I’ll think, “Wow, I would love to make something out of this, and I would love to see if I can bend them and how would you tie them?” I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of turning something that is linear into something that is circular.
I am able to be so much freer when I’m working with materials, just to experiment, to speculate about what might happen if this goes this way or that goes that way. We are always striving to make meaning, we’re always striving to convey meaning, but what I see my role as, in art practice, is really about establishing a relationship with my materials and then allowing them to say what they want to say.
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Bonnie Devine is a 2021 winner of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Directed by Alexander Seltzer.
A co-production of the Canada Council for the Arts and AMS Films. A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm's-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) "to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts."
For more information, visit: en.ggarts.ca
****
Transcript:
For me, the way that I approach landscape is by walking, by actually engaging with the land, not just visually but in every sense. It’s not about finding that picturesque site. What I’m always interested in is the history of the place, the people who were there and what I try to do is actually talk about the land. You know what does the land remember? Is it possible that the land has a memory?
I was born in Toronto but raised up north with deep, deep family and community and spiritual connections, I would say, if that doesn’t sound too corny. I just feel deeply connected to the North. I’ve been engaged for many years thinking about the history of Ontario that we don’t know. Most of my life has been dedicated to trying to find that out for myself. And the artwork is sort of the ephemera that comes out of those research explorations.
My work is very personal to me. It’s a combination of walking on the land and travelling there. It’s taking photographic evidence of the site. It’s spending time there, sitting there, doing sketches, but more than that, it’s going to the library and getting books and reading everything I can about the history. And this is difficult in Ontario, of course, because we don’t have that many accounts that go further back than, say, Lord Simcoe. In the story of this land, that’s really quite recent.
You’re trying to access an even deeper history and this can be challenging but also incredibly inspiring. I think a lot of my work comes from that kind of combination of recorded knowledge, memory and dream.
When I was growing up, I watched my grandparents who were trappers. I saw the way that they handled materials—wood, reeds, fur—they were constantly modifying in order to give it another use. When thinking about how to make something in order to reflect what I’ve learned about a specific place or a specific thing, it usually comes to me kind of intuitively. I’ll see something like these pine needles. And I’ll think, “Wow, I would love to make something out of this, and I would love to see if I can bend them and how would you tie them?” I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of turning something that is linear into something that is circular.
I am able to be so much freer when I’m working with materials, just to experiment, to speculate about what might happen if this goes this way or that goes that way. We are always striving to make meaning, we’re always striving to convey meaning, but what I see my role as, in art practice, is really about establishing a relationship with my materials and then allowing them to say what they want to say.
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
Twitter - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
Twitter - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
