Shaman Protection 1980

Norval Morrisseau painted this, Shaman Protection, with bright colours, red and blue mostly, and bold black outlines. Look at the paint job – I get a sense of process, of the shaman’s image shifting and emerging through intuition, perhaps trial and error too. I wonder what it was like for Morrisseau to make this? What was he thinking? The black lines are so assured, like a stained-glass window. Notice how the colours don't blend; they are pure and contained. The surface looks so smooth and flat, and yet these elements combine to create an emotional resonance. That one red line that runs like a tear down the figure's face – what feeling does that gesture convey? Morrisseau started something fresh. Other artists were encouraged to delve into their own histories and traditions, re-imagine and re-interpret them. Artists are always talking to one another across time like this. And like all painting, Shaman Protection embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple meanings.