Nation is a word that posses a multitude of definitions; it

is most commonly defined as “a large aggregate of people united

by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a

particular country or territory.”12 This notion of commonality is

problematic in defining nation, especially in Canada, a country

who prides themselves excessively on this idea of

multiculturalism. In Benedict Anderson’s groundbreaking work

“Imagined Communities,” Anderson proposes that Canada and many

other ‘nations’ communities are largely imagined due largely in

part to the fact that not all members of a nation can know each

other, let alone have a relationship with them.3 In Canada,

nationalism was heavily promoted in the 19th century as a method

of distinguishing themselves from other major power sources of

the world such as the United States and England.4 Imagery such

as the picturesque Canadian landscape and rural winter settings

were heavily propagated as a symbol of Canadian-ness, despite

1 ‘Nation,’ Google Definitions, https://www.google.ca/search?q=definition+of+nation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&gfe_rd=cr&ei=VPFPU7yIBqaC8QeVgoHgDA 2 Benedict Anderson, “Introduction,” Imagined Communities, New York: Verso (1983) p. 33 Ibid. p. 5. 4 John O’Brian, ‘Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, andContemporary Art,’ Montreal: McGill-Queen University Press (2007), p. 236

that fact that few Canadians had came in contact with the

Precambrian shield. The mass majority of the population resided

between the great Canadian North and the United States, distanced

from this world that they are supposed to be aspiring to. 5

Furthermore, much of the subject matter Canadians are subjected

to showcase the two Canadian dichotomies of the French and

English colonizing powers but seem to omit any other cultures

that do not fit within these constraints. Such imagery and

ideologies is continuously repeated throughout the decades and

allows for the continuous growth of the Canadian nationalist myth

and ultimately inspires the population to adhere to these

fabricated ideals. This vision of Canada is highly idealized and

extremely naive, largely due to the fact that a large part of our

multicultural population is not being represented, or largely

misrepresented. Canada’s sordid history of inequality and

exploitation is highly disregarded and nationalistic propaganda

reinforces this false ‘nationhood’ and comradeship. This is

rendered obvious in Canadian visual culture, from the art works

of the Group of Seven [Fig.1] to more contemporary artists such

5 Ibid. p. 236

as Mark Brennan [Fig.2] who depict almost identical Canadian

landscape imagery almost 100 years apart. What I wish to further

explore are two contemporary Canadian artists who attempt to

bring attention to these constructs and a call for a restoration

and contemplation of Canadian identities. The first artist is

photo-based Korean-born Canadian artist Jin Me Yoon who is well

known for questioning constructions of identity within historical

and social contexts. Simultaneously, we will see Peter Doig’s

works which counteract traditional nationalist imagery and

question the realities of these landscapes.

In her works “A Group of Sixty-Seven,” (1996) [Fig.3] and

“Souvenirs of the Self,” (1991) [Fig.4] Yoon recreates some

deeply complex and reflective cultural narratives that deal with

issues that arise in regards to national history. She focuses

heavily on how bodies are politicized through race, class, gender

and sexuality, and this idea of people becoming who they are

based on their personal history as well as economic, cultural and

social factors in both a local and a global context.6 Yoon also

6 Andrea Kunard, “Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise) Jin-Me Yoon,” Blackfish Magazine, http://www.blackflash.ca/souvenirs-of-the-self (Accessed April 7th 2014).

examines national myths and these constructed ‘official

histories’ that give a sense of nationhood and community for some

(the dominant majority) while isolating others (for example,

ethnic minorities).7 The question “Where do we belong?” is a

recurring theme throughout her works.

Her first work “A Group of Sixty-Seven” actively questions

identity and the constructed myths of history and culture in

Canada by re-appropriating a Group of Seven work by Lawren Harris

“Malinge Lake, Jasper Park” (1924) [Fig.5] and the world “Old

Time Coast Village” (1929-1930) [Fig.6] by Emily Carr. Both the

Group of Seven and Emily Carr were crucial in reinforcing the

nationalist vision through their artworks, emphasizing Canada as

an empty untouched land that was being discovered for the first

time, when it had really been inhabited by the First Nations for

centuries. Their art practices were “used by the institutions as

a vehicle to impose a vision of the country on the country” in

which “they presented them as explorers” of the Canadian

landscape, rather than as colonizers.8 As a comment, Yoon

7 Ibid. 8 Brenda Lafleur, “Imagine Settlement and Displacement: At Home in Ka-Na-Ta,” Ottawa: Gilmore Reproductions, (2013), P. 93.

invited sixty seven members of the Vancouver Korean community to

the Vancouver Art Gallery to have dinner and be photographed in

front of Harris and Carr’s works. In the Harris work the viewers

turn towards the viewer, in the Carr they turn their faces

towards the work. What Yoon is attempting to bring into question

is that the Canadian identity and the constructed myths of

history and culture do not include ethnic groups. As an attempt

to deconstruct these imagined communities void of ethnicity, she

introduces a Korean community into these nationalistic works and

captures them. The number sixty-seven also makes reference to

the Canadian centennial, but more importantly, makes reference to

the year that the Canadian government dismantled immigration

restrictions for specific East Asians. 9 By bringing an

invisible community to the fore front of the work, she critiques

the centralized Eurocentric Canadian art history cannon that is

commonly exclusive. 10

9 Andrea Kunard, “Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise) Jin-Me Yoon,” Blackfish Magazine, http://www.blackflash.ca/souvenirs-of-the-self, (Accessed April 7th 2014). 10 Jeff Derksen, “Fugitive Spaces : Jin-Me Yoon,” Catriona Jefferies Gallery, 2004, http://www.newrepublics.com/FugitiveSpaces.pdf, pg. 1, PDF

In her work “Souvenirs of Self (Lake Louise)” she places

herself in a typical familiar Canadian landscape of Lake Louise

in Alberta. Staring directly into the camera; her body is

arranged in a rigid and stiff manner, her facial expression

remains stoic. She places her ‘othered’ body in a Canadian

landmark, one that is a source of Canadian national pride,

placing a minority within the space of the national imagined

community. Furthermore, this specific location serves as a top

Canadian tourist destination, yet Lake Louise (named after

Princess Louise in England) is a symbol of English imperialism

and colonization, contrasting quite heavily with her colonized

body.11 This rugged nationalistic space takes precedence of the

othered body, once again reinforcing the dominance of constructed

imagined communities.

The second artist I will be focusing on is Peter Doig a

Scottish figurative painter who spent a large part of his life in

Canada. Having travelled to England, he eventually came back to

Canada and “(...) was searching for a new subject, (he) started

11 Andrea Kunard, “Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise) Jin-Me Yoon,” Blackfish Magazine, http://www.blackflash.ca/souvenirs-of-the-self.

making these quite homely paintings (...) landscapes that were

not direct representations but fictionalised images.”12 Looking

at “Figure in a Mountain Landscape,” [Fig.7] and “Canoe-Lake,”

[Fig.8] we will see how he transgresses these fictional idealized

narratives and bring forth the dark realities.

In countries that have been affected by colonization,

landscape functions quite intently as a political unifier of

national sovereignty.13 While Doig has been affected by the art

of the Group of Seven works, his interpretation of the Canadian

landscape could not be more contrasting. In his work “Figure in

a Mountain Landscape” he depicts a hooded man with his back

turned to the viewer. The man depicted is named Franklin

Carmichael, one of the famous members of the Group of Seven who

is shown painting one of his infamous paintings of the sublime

Canadian landscape.14 Inspired by a photograph, Doig recreates

12 Dominc Guerrini, “Peter Doig,” Peter Doig Prints, http://www.peterdoigprints.info/biography.php?cur=GBP , (Accessed April 6th 2014).13 John K. Grande, “Peter Doig: Hallucinating Landscapes – Canadian Style,” TheCentre For Contemporary Canadian Art, http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/g/grande/grande013t.html (Accessed April 5th 2014). 14 Elizabeth Manchester, ‘Figure in a Mountain Landscape: Peter Doig,’ Tate Modern, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-figure-in-a-mountain-landscape-p11548/text-summary , (Accessed April 5th 2014)

the photograph in a painting and places Carmichael within the

natural space. This is problematic due to the fact that the

Group of Seven specifically reinforced this idea of untouched

natural space in their works, yet Doig specifically centers on

this disturbance in the landscape. Furthermore, the Group of

Seven heavily reinforced this notion of nature as an escape from

industrialization, Doig here reinforces that we cannot always

escape social realities. 15 This ‘untouched’ nation demonstrates

the realties and discredits these nationalistic visuals that

construct and reinforce imagined communities.

In his work “Canoe-Lake,” we are presented with an image

that Doig uses repeatedly in his artworks. It is a lone figure

in a canoe on the lake drifting in the middle of the water,

slumped over the edge with one arm hanging over aimlessly into

the water. The imagery is inspired by a still from the Friday

the 13th horror movies, and is rendered quite ominous and

sinister due to the dark color palettes. This work depicts the

Canadian landscape, yet rather than portraying a beautiful land 15 John K. Grande, “Peter Doig: Hallucinating Landscapes – Canadian Style,” TheCentre For Contemporary Canadian Art, http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/g/grande/grande013t.html (Accessed April 5th 2014).

full of resource and opportunities, the artist depicts the darker

side of the Canadian landscape. There is this sense of tragedy

and danger, reminiscent of the tragic death of Group of Seven

predecessor Tom Thompson. A tension seems to derive from these

works over the nature-culture divide and display a muted violence

that is not depicted in traditional renderings of the nation’s

landscape.16 Doig once again seems to challenge the Group of

Seven and showcase less idealized versions of the Canadian

landscape, once again spoiling imagery that has been severely

used to create these imagined communities.

While both Doig and Yoon display quite contrasting subject

matter, they are both attempting to deconstruct Canadian imagery

that has been used to create nationhood. Yoon’s approach is more

widely based on ethnic exclusion and the politicizing of the

body, where as Doig’s works bring to light alternative visions

and interpretations of repeated imagery in Canadian histories.

This idea of imagined communities are brought to the forefront of

Canadian history, and offer viewers a chance to question Canadian

16 Ibid.

nationhood and to reconsider one owns identity within the nation,

or ultimately to entice one to separate identity and nation.

Works Cited

‘Nation.’ Google Definitions. https://www.google.ca/search?q=definition+of+nation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb&gfe_rd=cr&ei=VPFPU7yIBqaC8QeVgoHgDA.

Anderson, Benedict. “Introduction.” Imagined Communities. (New York:Verso, 1983).

Derksen, Jeff. “Fugitive Spaces : Jin-Me Yoon.” Catriona Jefferies Gallery. 2004. http://www.newrepublics.com/FugitiveSpaces.pdf,pg. 1, PDF.

Grande, John K. “Peter Doig: Hallucinating Landscapes – Canadian Style.” The Centre For Contemporary Canadian Art. http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/g/grande/grande013t.html.

Guerrini, Dominic “Peter Doig.” Peter Doig Prints. http://www.peterdoigprints.info/biography.php?cur=GBP

Kunard, Andrea. “Souvenirs of the Self (Lake Louise) Jin-Me Yoon.” Blackfish Magazine, http://www.blackflash.ca/souvenirs-of-the-self.

Lafleur, Brenda. “Imagine Settlement and Displacement: At Home inKa-Na-Ta.” (Ottawa: Gilmore Reproductions, 2013).

Manchester, Elizabeth. ‘Figure in a Mountain Landscape: Peter Doig.’ Tate Modern. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-figure-in-a-mountain-landscape-p11548/text-summary

O’Brian John. ‘Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art.’ (Montreal: McGill-Queen University Press, 2007).

Images Used

[Fig.1]

Tom Thomson, The Jack Pine, OilPainting. 1916-17. National

Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo© NGC

http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?

mkey=11056

[Fig.2]

Marc Brennan, Fall Shore MolaskeyLake, Nb, Oil Painting. 2010.

Unknown Location. Photo © Argyle Fine Art

http://argylefineart.blogspot.ca/2010/10/new-work-by-mark-

brennan.html[Fig.3] [Fig.4]

Jin-Me Yoon, Group of Sixty-Seven(detail), 138 cibachrome photographs.

1996-1997. Collection of theArtist.

Photo © Nationhoodhttp://www.nationhood.ca/html_en/module_core.cfm?

tab=2&modNum=8

Jin-Me Yoon, Souvenirs of the Self(Lake Louise), Chromogenic Print

Laminated to Plexiglass. 1991.National Gallery of Canada,

Ottawa. Photo © NGChttp://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Souvenirs-of-the-

Self--Lake-Louise-/DFA29A4945C8F8AE

[Fig.5]

Lawren Harris, Maligne Lake JasperPark, Oil on Canvas. 1924. NationalGallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo

© NGC

[Fig.6]

Emily Carr, Old Time Coast Village,Oil on Canvas. 1930.

Collection of the VancouverArt Gallery, Emily Carr Trust.

Photo© VAG

http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?

mkey=14342

http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/emily_carr/en/popups/

pop_large_en.php?worksID=1118

[Fig,7]

Peter Doig, Figure in a MountainLandscape, Etching on Paper. 1997.Tate Modern, London. Photo © Tate

Modern. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-figure-in-a-mountain-landscape-p11548

[Fig.8]

Peter Doig, Canoe Lake, Etchingon Paper. 1997. Tate Modern,

London. Photo © Tate Modern.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-canoe-lake-

p11545/text-summary