Untitled (Floral on Yellow) 1993

Curator: Standing before us is Norval Morrisseau's "Untitled (Floral on Yellow)," an acrylic painting dating back to 1993. Editor: My first thought is, wow, that yellow *really* pops. It’s simple, vibrant, almost like a screen print, though you can see the texture of the acrylic. Curator: The vivid color is definitely striking. Morrisseau was known for using these bold palettes. Considering his Woodland School of Art background, it is interesting to look at this from a materials perspective; were these acrylic paints easily available to him? Did they affect the kinds of narratives he could represent? Editor: Absolutely, the colours give it that distinct sense of vibrancy. To me, these flower-like shapes and the circles have strong spiritual and symbolic resonance. The circles could represent wholeness or perhaps interconnectedness. And consider how frequently floral designs appear in indigenous art--how is this floral distinct, how does it participate in that history? Curator: I think your read of "interconnectedness" is interesting, as there is almost a block print sensibility to this image; the composition feels quite flat. There is little shading or attempt to make the shapes seem three dimensional. But what does this flatness accomplish in terms of engaging the viewer? Editor: That lack of depth does lend it a striking sense of immediacy. Like many modern paintings, its almost iconographic—bold simple shapes, potent colour relations. There's something celebratory in its simplicity. You also have to remember that as an indigenous artist in the modern art world, he carried complex responsibilities. Do these design choices relate to reclaiming symbolic systems of representation and visual language from the past, revitalizing them in new ways? Curator: Exactly, and he also dealt with issues of cultural appropriation within the art market, so the directness of the imagery coupled with that "flatness" could be read as an intentional commentary on accessibility and ownership. Thanks for walking me through this, you have changed my point of view. Editor: A worthwhile discussion. These designs are so much more than the simple blooms and patterns they appear to be, they each communicate complex messages about meaning, material, and identity.