A ghostly ship of wood and paper that speaks of the fragility of parenthood, of being an artist and of being both at the same time, is now floating over the stacks of children’s books in the Canmore Public Library.
The Boat, created by Canmore artist Pascale Ouellet, is reminiscent of a Viking longboat with upswept prow. The sides are formed of eight-foot-long slats of paper that feature quotes from artists across Canada exploring the challenges and pleasures of being an artist and a parent.
The Boat was first featured at Elevation Contemporary Art Gallery in early November as part of Ouellet’s exhibition I am We. This exhibition grew out of a residency Ouellet, who has two young sons, undertook at The Banff Centre in the hopes of coming to terms with what it meant to inhabit both worlds; a struggle that had developed as she sought to eke out time to work amidst the demands of being a parent.
“(I had) two weeks to think about what it means to be an artist and a parent because you don’t really take a maternity leave when you’re an artist,” Ouellet said. “It never leaves you … And I didn’t have the time or energy to (work) and I was feeling really frustrated. So I took those two weeks to find out if there are any other artists out there, are there any books written about that or courses about being a parent and an artist. I was not looking for any tips on how to do that, but for inspiration; if this person can do it, I can do it.”
But she found no exhibitions, no articles or essays or answers. In fact, she found nothing about what it meant to inhabit those worlds at the same time.
The lack of answers forced Ouellet to turn to the visual arts community to look for answers – the success stories, the challenges and even the failures – from the artists themselves.
“I decided to create a website and asked artists to send me their thoughts about what it means to be a parent and I said it could be anything. It could be something frustrating or something positive. It could be about changing diapers. Anything,” she said.
“Artists do see the world in a different way. I had the feeling I’d get some good answers and I did. People really did provide some thoughtful sentences. Some wrote a full paragraph and I had to take excerpts from that.”
As a whole, The Boat serves as a metaphor to say that parents are all in the same boat. And being made of paper and wood, the craft is fragile, much like parenthood and the balance between being a parent and an artist.
“We are all in the same boat and the boat is made of paper because parenting is a fragile job,” she said.
Through this project Ouellet said she has begun to understand that the frustration she was feeling stems from a sense of urgency; that because time is precious, she wants her art to be more meaningful.
“(The quotes) on the boat, that’s what they told me too. Being a parent makes you want to say something more with your art and that is what I’m struggling with these days, because I’m trying to be better and send a stronger message,” she said. But with that realization comes a new challenge: making art that fits that feeling and that need.
“What do I want to say to the world now that I have so little time, to help the world get better? That is my new challenge.”
