By Colleen Smith

Artist Spotlight: Integrating online romance with indigenous symbolism

May 16, 2016 | 12:45 PM

This is not the first time Belinda Harrow’s eclectic work has been featured among the ambulatory walls of North Battleford’s ethereal Chapel Gallery. But no location could be more perfect for the immensely personal story she has chosen to share through “Giant Bingo” – a show capturing the pursuit of online romance within the symbolic nature of the Canadian North.

“I wasn’t sure if places like the Chapel Gallery would have been the right place to showcase (my) work,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if the population, like the seniors and others, have used online dating as much.”

But after a little research, Harrow was delighted to discover the opposite to be true.

“So many of the seniors these days are reaching out and having chats with other people, and I was really surprised.  I’ve found it really fascinating that despite the small population, the connections would be utilized,” she said.

Harrow is speaking of the major theme running through the exhibition, the piques and perils of Internet dating. Her collection of showcased work is a metaphor for life in love, romance and spirituality.  It is a game of luck, loss and trying for success.  

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A veteran of Internet dating herself, Harrow says the online dating experience has given her the inspiration to explore how people encounter the cheekiness of human nature.  

“It gives you a chance to connect with people (you) wouldn’t normally come across in the circles of day-to-day life.  But there is a block to get a genuine sense from somebody through the profiles, and that is played on in the drawings.  Sometimes (the profiles) are displayed in such an unflattering way,” she said.

As the viewer scours the walls lined with canvas after canvas of beaver dams, worn trees of birch, beavers and bingo cards, it is hard to miss the indigenous influence.  In the tangible medley of canvas, textile, beaver pelt and rubber are the experiences of her life as a young trapper in the Quinlan-Donne First Nation.

It was the community where Harrow spent the breadth of her young womanhood.  It was there she saw the game of bingo as a unique language to the lifeblood of the community.

“The indigenous culture plays in to the culture of bingo.  Also, the Catholic Church uses bingo.  I was living in Whitehorse and North Battleford has a similar population base, and you are to a degree, geographically isolated,” Harrows said.

When it comes to online dating, it’s not hard for her to see a connection between the anticipation of the game of bingo and the game of love.  

“They tell that story together.  And when it comes to online dating, there are many different avenues and it’s a challenge and so I like the idea of a whole bunch of things coming together.  There is some luck in making these connections,” she said. 

The one theme tying the whole exhibition together is that of the beaver.  The signature piece of the show, “Giant Bingo’ is not only the gallery’s namesake, but the anchor of the whole ship.  The stuffed animal speckled with numbers is lined with beaver pelt; it gives a nod to indigenous ways of life by alluding to trapping, animal spirituality and of course, bingo.

Harrow says she sees the beaver as an enigmatic icon of romance’s ambiguous strength.

 “Whether talking about love… the environment, the beaver is the traditional ideal situation where you meet, connect and build a life with someone.  It is the archetype for perfect romance.  And yet, they are funny animals; queer in nature, possess strange sexual innuendo and so they also possess ambiguity,” she said.

The Chapel Gallery will be hosting the exhibition until the end of June, where Harrow hopes to host an ‘artist’ talk and invite people for a question period regarding her work.

colleen.smith@jpbg.ca

@ColleenAJSmith