Artist Focus: Ray Swirsky

Ray Swirsky, who has been a full-time oil painter for a number of years, recently decided to explore his Native Metis heritage “in hopes of somehow incorporating my heritage into my art,” he says. “I started this process by searching for historic images of the Metis people, but good Metis images were particularly hard to find. But I kept finding and collecting some amazing images of other Indigenous peoples from across North America. When I stumbled across a map detailing the reserves being set up across Canada during one my searches, a map created in 1891, I knew I had found the element that would become the foundation for a number of paintings in this new series of art.”

Water’s Edge, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in.

The artist continues, “The use of a painted map as the background for a historic scene adds an intriguing layer of meaning. The integration of figure and landscape together with the map suggests a narrative that is both personal and historical, inviting the viewer to reflect on the relationship between identity and place. The raw harmonious color palette of both subject and map ties both together, ensuring that neither map nor subject overwhelm the other, but rather, they exist in a complementary relationship. It is art that is both pleasing while invoking conversation and discussion.” —