{{Short description|Cree painter and printmaker}} {{Infobox artist | name=Jane Ash Poitras | image= | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|10|11|mf=y}} | birth_place =Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, Canada | field = Painter, Printmaker | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards =CM (2017) }} '''Jane Ash Poitras''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|RCA|size=100%}} LL. D. D.Litt (born October 11, 1951) is a Cree painter and printmaker from Canada. Her work uses the idioms of mainstream art to express the experience of Aboriginal people in Canada.<ref name="NGC " >{{cite web|url=https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/jane-ash-poitras|title=Jane Ash Poitras - National Gallery of Canada | National Gallery of Canada|author=Jane Ash Poitras|date=1951-10-11|publisher=National Gallery of Canada|accessdate=2013-08-21}}</ref>
==Life== Jane Ash Poitras was born in Fort Chipewyan Alberta. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Poitras was six and she was adopted by an elderly German woman. She grew up in Edmonton, Alberta in a Catholic household.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=58|title=Artist Portfolio:Jane Ash Poitras (1951- ), Cree Artist|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=|website=spiritwrestler.com|publisher=Spirit Wrestler Gallery|accessdate=20 August 2013}}</ref> Before turning to a career in the arts, she obtained a B.Sc. in microbiology at the University of Alberta. She later obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Alberta and a Master's from Columbia University.
==Work== {{Blockquote|text=...each blank canvas is an invitation to a journey of discovery. I may begin with an idea of what the final destination—the completed painting—may be, but I’m always open to the unexpected. As Carl Beam said, the art of placement is a spiritual act. Each step in the creative process may reveal unexpected choices that require decisions. The final decision for each piece is to know when it is resolved, when it is finished.|author=Jane Ash Poitras|title=''Jane Ash Poitras: Acclaimed Aboriginal Artist Receives Distinguished Artist Award''|source=First Nation Drum<ref name=Buehler2>{{cite web|last=Buehler|first=Clint|title=Jane Ash Poitras: Acclaimed Aboriginal Artist Receives Distinguished Artist Award|url=http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2011/04/jane-ash-poitras-acclaimed-aboriginal-artist-receives-distinguished-artist-award/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606083403/http://firstnationsdrum.com/2011/04/jane-ash-poitras-acclaimed-aboriginal-artist-receives-distinguished-artist-award/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 6, 2011|publisher=First Nation Drum|accessdate=3 October 2013|date=25 April 2011}}</ref>}}
Poitras uses a vocabulary of layered images, readymades and text to explore the historical and personal experience of an aboriginal person in Canadian society. This approach to creating images was developed out of Dada by the American Abstract Expressionists and their associates; Mark Rothko, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly. Poitras was introduced to this work during her studies at Columbia University.<ref name=NGC />
Poitras extends the meaning of her paintings by applying objects holding symbolic significance to the surface of the compositions. ''A Sacred Prayer for a Sacred Island'', 1991 includes an eagle feather and a five dollar bill.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Sacred Prayer for a Sacred Island, 1991|url=http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?mkey=44816|publisher=National Gallery of Canada|accessdate=3 October 2013}}</ref> An eagle feather is considered sacred by North American Aboriginal People; the five-dollar bill represents the treaty annuity paid by the Canadian government to aboriginal individuals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dow|first=Katherine|title=It's a small amount, but a big symbol|journal=Winnipeg Free Press|date=13 June 2012|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/its-a-small-amount-but-a-big-symbol-158840235.html|accessdate=3 October 2013}}</ref>
The paintings Poitras creates can be very large. One of the pieces acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum in 2010 is a triptych 25 feet long by 9 feet high. ''Potato Peeling 101 to Ethnobotany 101'' (2004), portrays a narrative of the experience of preserving aboriginal cultural knowledge through the years of forced assimilation.<ref name=Buehler >{{cite web|last=Buehler|first=Clint|title=Royal Ontario Museum Exhibits Major Works by Jane Ash Poitras|url=http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/2010/10/royal-ontario-museum-exhibits-major-works-by-jane-ash-poitras/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606083706/http://firstnationsdrum.com/2010/10/royal-ontario-museum-exhibits-major-works-by-jane-ash-poitras/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 6, 2011|publisher=First Nations Drum|accessdate=3 October 2013|date=20 October 2010}}</ref>
Poitras maintains an active exhibition schedule, having participated in over 30 solo exhibitions and 60 group exhibitions before 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ms. Jane Ash Poitras|url=https://indspire.ca/laureates/jane-ash-poitras/|publisher=Indspire|accessdate=3 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005004954/https://indspire.ca/laureates/jane-ash-poitras/|archive-date=5 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is a long-standing sessional instructor with the University of Alberta and travels as a guest lecturer across North America.<ref name=UofAAlumni >{{cite web|title=Recipient Biographies K-Q|url=http://alumni.ualberta.ca/benefits-and-services/alumni-awards/award-of-excellence/ae-bios-k-q|publisher=University of Alberta|accessdate=3 October 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220141/http://alumni.ualberta.ca/benefits-and-services/alumni-awards/award-of-excellence/ae-bios-k-q|archivedate=4 October 2013}}</ref>
===Mentorship=== Poitras has mentored young apprentice artists of Aboriginal background, including Linus Woods.<ref name=PD >{{cite news |url=http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/2014/11/10/space-rabbit-a-local-exhibit |title=Space Rabbit |author=Svjetlana Mlinarevic |publisher=The Graphic |date=November 10, 2014}}</ref>
==Selected public collections== *National Gallery of Canada<ref name="NGC " /> *Royal Ontario Museum<ref>{{cite web |title=Jane Ash Poitras: New Acquisitions of Contemporary First Nations Art |url=https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/exhibitions/jane-ash-poitras-new-acquisitions-of-contemporary-first-nations |website=Royal Ontario Museum }}</ref> *Canadian Museum of Civilization<ref>{{cite web|title=Shaman Never Die IV; Preserve our Children|url=http://collections.civilization.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/emupublic/Display.php?irn=210204&QueryPage=%2Fpublic%2Fpages%2Fcmccpublic%2Femupublic%2FQuery.php&lang=0|publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization|accessdate=3 October 2013}}</ref> *Brooklyn Museum<ref>{{cite web|title=Buffalo Spirit|url=http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/112461/Buffalo_Spirit|publisher=Brooklyn Museum|accessdate=3 October 2013}}</ref> *Canada Council Art Bank<ref>{{cite web|title=Search the Collection |url=http://artbank.ca/en/Loans/Searchable%20List%20of%20Works.aspx |publisher=Canada Council |accessdate=3 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234113/http://artbank.ca/en/Loans/Searchable%20List%20of%20Works.aspx |archivedate= 4 October 2013 }}</ref> *Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University<ref name=Artefacts>{{cite web|title=Artefacts Canada Humanities|url=http://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/bd-dl/artefacts-eng.jsp?emu=en.artefacts:/Proxac/ws/human/user/www/ResultSet&w=NATIVE%28%27ARNAME%20=%20%27%27POITRAS,%20JANE%20ASH%27%27%27%29&upp=0&rpp=10|publisher=Government of Canada|accessdate=3 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000528/http://www.pro.rcip-chin.gc.ca/bd-dl/artefacts-eng.jsp?emu=en.artefacts%3A%2FProxac%2Fws%2Fhuman%2Fuser%2Fwww%2FResultSet&w=NATIVE%28%27ARNAME%20%3D%20%27%27POITRAS%2C%20JANE%20ASH%27%27%27%29&upp=0&rpp=10|archive-date=5 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> *McMichael Canadian Art Collection<ref name=Artefacts /><ref>{{cite web|title=The Collection - Contemporary Art|url=http://www.mcmichael-artdb.com/|publisher=McMichael Canadian Art Collection|accessdate=3 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822035213/http://www.mcmichael-artdb.com/|archive-date=22 August 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Royal Alberta Museum<ref name=Artefacts /> *Art Gallery of Ontario<ref name=Artefacts /> *Edmonton Art Gallery, now known as the Art Gallery of Alberta<ref name=Artefacts /> *Art Gallery of Nova Scotia<ref name=Artefacts /> *Vancouver Art Gallery<ref name=Artefacts /> *Winnipeg Art Gallery<ref name=Artefacts /><ref>{{cite web|title=Shaman Never Die: Return to Your Ancestral Roots, 1989|url=http://wag.ca/art/art-search/display,result/52821|publisher=Winnipeg Art Gallery|accessdate=3 October 2013|archive-date=5 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005054700/http://wag.ca/art/art-search/display,result/52821|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Glenbow-Alberta Institute, Glenbow Museum<ref name=Artefacts /> *The Robert McLaughlin Gallery<ref name=Artefacts /> *MacKenzie Art Gallery<ref name=Artefacts /> *Agnes Etherington Art Centre<ref name=Artefacts /> *Art Windsor Essex<ref>{{cite web | url=https://artwindsoressex.ca/collection/advanced-search/?artists=87418#results | title=Advanced Search }}</ref>
==Selected honours== *Order of Canada (2017);<ref name="canadahouse " >{{cite web |title=Article |url=https://canadahouse.com/collections/jane-ash-poitras-rca-cm#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20she%20was%20awarded,from%20the%20University%20of%20Calgary. |website=canadahouse.com |publisher=Canada House |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> *Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal;<ref name="canadahouse " /> *Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of Calgary;<ref name="canadahouse " /> *Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from University of Alberta;<ref name="canadahouse " /> *Royal Canadian Academy of Arts<ref name=RCA1880 >{{cite web|title=Members since 1880 |url=http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts |accessdate=11 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526215339/http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp |archivedate=26 May 2011 }}</ref> *Alberta Centennial Medal<ref>{{cite web|title=Alberta Centennial Medal Recipients|url=http://www.albertacentennial.ca/programs/medal_recip_o-z.html|publisher=Government of Alberta|accessdate=3 October 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224306/http://www.albertacentennial.ca/programs/medal_recip_o-z.html|archivedate=4 October 2013}}</ref> *National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture, now the Indspire Awards, 2006<ref>{{cite web|title=2006 Laureates |url=https://indspire.ca/laureate-type/2006/ |publisher=Indspire |accessdate=3 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224844/https://indspire.ca/laureate-type/2006/ |archivedate= 4 October 2013 }}</ref> *University of Alberta Alumni Award of Excellence<ref name=UofAAlumni /> *Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award<ref name=Buehler2 /><ref name=LG>{{cite web|title=2011 Distinguished Artist Recipient Jane Ash Poitras, RCA |url=http://www.artsawards.ca/DistinguishedArtists/Recipients.aspx?pd=8 |publisher=Lieutenant Governor of Alberta |accessdate=3 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234336/http://www.artsawards.ca/DistinguishedArtists/Recipients.aspx?pd=8 |archivedate= 4 October 2013 }}</ref>
==Further reading== *{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|216875107}} |last1=MacKay |first1=Gillian |date=Fall 1994 |title=Lady oracle: Jane Ash Poitras and the First Nations phenomenon |journal=Canadian Art |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=74–81 }} *{{cite book |last1=McCallum |first1=Pamela |title=Cultural Memories and Imagined Futures: The Art of Jane Ash Poitras |date=2011 |publisher=University of Calgary Press |isbn=978-1-55238-271-4 }} *Poitras, Jane A, and Rick Rivet. Osopikahikiwak. Paris: Services culturels de l'Ambassade du Canada, 1999. Print. *{{Cite book|last=Farris|first= Phoebe|title=Women artists of color : a bio-critical sourcebook to 20th century artists in the Americas|date=1999|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=0-313-30374-6|location=Westport, Conn.|pages=62|oclc=40193578}} *{{cite journal |last1=Ryan |first1=Allan J. |title=Postmodern Parody: A Political Strategy in Contemporary Canadian Native Art |journal=Art Journal |date=September 1992 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=59–65 |doi=10.1080/00043249.1992.10791585 |jstor=777349 }}
==External links== *[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/jane-ash-poitras Canadian Encyclopedia entry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415085720/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/jane-ash-poitras |date=2013-04-15 }} *[http://www.artsask.ca/en/artists/jane_ash_poitras ARTSask -Jane Ash Poitras] *[https://kinsmanrobinson.ca/artist/poitras-jane-ash/ Kinsman Robinson Galleries - Jane Ash Poitras, CM] *[https://bearclawgallery.com/artists/jane-ash-poitras/ Bearclaw Gallery - Jane Ash Poitras]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poitras, Jane Ash}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from Alberta Category:Canadian women painters Category:First Nations painters Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Category:20th-century Canadian women artists Category:Indspire Awards for Arts Category:21st-century Canadian women artists Category:Canadian collage artists Category:Canadian women collage artists Category:Cree women artists Category:Cree artists Category:Indspire Awards for Culture, Heritage, and Spirituality