Brenda Draney uses stories, memories and family conversations to make subtle, powerful paintings. Many of these memories are pulled from her childhood, and most centre around Slave Lake, the small town in Northern Alberta where she grew up. What emerges from the canvas are cloud-like pictures, isolated moments and constellations of ambiguous but connected associations. In addition to the strong colours, what is most remarkable about Draney’s work is the expanse of raw or empty canvas. These blank spaces reflect her inability to recall everything. Draney subjects her own memory to the test, painting only what she can remember: fleeting flashes of actions and events, glimmers of people and moments. Draney offers the following explanation for this way of working:
It's about the uncertainty of memory, when you remember something one time and then you remember it another time and other parts get informed and replaced and changed. I also think it's about things we're not supposed to talk about, or things that aren't my business to talk about--about a story I may not have the authority to tell. Those are things that may not necessarily be available to the viewer but that are part of my process. Part of my hesitation in answering questions about my paintings is because I think a lot about how much I should disclose about the specifics of narrative. It feels a little heavy-handed or dramatic to say this, but I’m trying to cultivate desire. If I confirm it for you, you can put it to bed. And if I tell you you’re wrong, then I’ve pushed you out and said you don’t understand it, you’re not invited in.
While many of her subjects seem banal, they allude to a broader and stronger undercurrent of destruction and loss: the devastating 1988 flood and 2011 fire of Slave Lake, and the effects of the Indian Act, residential schools, band membership, and Bill C-31 on Draney’s life and work. The image of a tent features in many of her paintings. It is a reference to both the temporary housing that the community of Slave Lake endured following the area’s recent natural disasters, and to the contemporary political movements to occupy space, such as Idle No More, Chief Theresa Spence’s encampment in Ottawa, and Edmonton's tent city, to name just a few.
Awards
In 2009 Draney was announced as the first-place winner of the 11th Annual Royal Bank of Canada's Canadian Painting Competition for her painting titled Aim is Important, a sparse compelling painting. For her first-place finish, Draney received $25 000 and her piece was added to RBC's private art collection. Honourable Mention's included Martin Golland and Sasha Pierce both from Toronto. In 2013 Draney was on the longlist for the Sobey Art Award, and in 2016 was the finalist representing Prairies and the North As one five regional finalists, her work was presented in an exhibition at National Gallery of Canada, and was featured on CBC radio's IDEAS episode with producer Mary Lynk. In 2014 she won the Eldon and Anne Foote Visual Arts Prize, worth $10,000 for her painting Suspend.
Major exhibitions
Landmark: A New Chapter Acquisition Project, Art Gallery of Alberta,
Sobey Art Award, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa,
', curated by Kristy Trinier, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
90X90: Celebrating Art in Alberta, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
Suspend, RBC New Works Gallery, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Fiction/Non-Fiction, curated by Wayne Baerwaldt and Naomi Potter, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Alberta
