Hosted at the Heard Museum in Phoenix and opening in early October is Bloodline, a survey exhibition featuring photography by Canadian-based artist, Meryl McMaster. Her family lineage and culture—Plains Cree (nêhiyaw Métis) with a mix of British and Dutch ancestry—is of great importance to her work. Highlighting 48 photographs across six bodies of work, the exhibition evokes themes of “memory, containment, erasure and self-determination,” says the museum.

Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree/Siksika/Dutch/British), Remember the Sky You Were Born Under, 2022, giclée print, 40 x 60”. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.

“Both my parents and grandparents were very involved in family and history, so I grew up with stories being told about family and have had access to various family materials…,” the artist explains. “In many of my works, I look to the past to form a fuller understanding of the present, hoping to create moments of introspection and contemplation of where we are and where we ought to go next. While I explore these stories, I am interested in how one’s personal identity is influenced by our past while also inviting a deeper reflection on our collective identity through performative self-portrait photographs and film.”

McMaster adds that many of her works draw inspiration from the different realities she was born into. “Historically, the heritages I am part of (First Nation and European) have inherent tension, but what I find through my artmaking process is that art can widen perspective on such conflicts. The self-portraits I created are an expression of my connection and disconnection, wonderment and bewilderment, exploring my relationship with countless generations before me on this territory.”

Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree/Siksika/Dutch/British), The Grass Grows Deep, 2022, giclée print, 40 x 60”. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.

While the exhibition includes the artist’s past works—such as Calling Me Home, from the series As Immense as the Sky, inspired by the Cree story of the Buffalo Child Stone, and Anima from the series In-Between Worlds, involving butterflies as symbolism—viewers will find new work and an entirely new series.

“While doing research for my series nôhkominak âcimowina (translated to mean Stories of My Grandmothers) I came across a diary written by my great-grandmother, Bella, around 1947, where she wrote about daily activities,” says McMaster of her inspiration behind the new body of work. “Whether it was farming or hauling wood into town, getting together with family and friends or breaks from daily life to attend social events, she made remarks of these events. One thing that struck me, were her references to collecting plants and roots.”

Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree/Siksika/Dutch/British), Anima, 2012, digital chromogenic print, 36 x 36”. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.

For the image Remember the Sky You Were Born Under, the artist says, “I wanted to illustrate the importance of plants and seeds not only in Indigenous traditional knowledge, but also to humanity in general. I am surrounded by wire representations of the plants/seeds that my grandmothers collected, and I am holding an object in the shape of the crude shovel they would have dug out the roots with.”

Highlighting stories garnered from the artist’s grandmother’s personal items, comes the work The Grass Grows Deep. “In this photograph, I am standing in the landscape on Red Pheasant Cree Nation contemplating questions of legacy and the stories we inherit, as well as the critical events that changed lives and the course of history,” says McMaster. “I have recreated a diary that I am holding with an image of my three grandmothers. I have included three butterflies that represent their souls (as is believed in plains culture) and also a penny. The penny is a reference to a story told to me about how when my grandmother Lena was young, she enjoyed flattening pennies under the weight of passing trains.”

Meryl McMaster (Plains Cree/Siksika/Dutch/British), Calling Me Home, 2019, digital chromogenic print, 40 x 60”. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain.

To experience more deeply personal yet visually inspiring large scale works by McMaster, visit the Heard Museum starting October 4, 2024 through January 12, 2025. 

Oct. 4, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025
Meryl McMaster: Bloodline
Heard Museum 2301 N. Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 252-8840, www.heard.org

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