-
- March 23, 2006
Using her unique art to educate
Recipient of immigration award Minority journey helped artistic pursuits
by Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter
-
When
she moved to Canada from Trinidad in 1984, Natalie Wood was subconsciously
drawn to television programs on Buffalo stations.
But it took the multimedia artist a while to figure out why.
"I'd been flicking through the channels and staying on the American channels
without realizing that was because I was seeing more people like me in their
programs," recalls Wood, 40.
"It called into question who I am and (inspired) a search for identity that
I didn't experience in Trinidad. I started to ask myself, `What can I do to
bring value to the people who look like me?'"
Wood completed a psychology degree at the University of Toronto in 1988 out
of obligation to her parents, but followed her own inclinations by taking
courses in painting at George Brown College.
While recognizing that "ethnic" creative works tend to be marginalized in a
Eurocentric art world, she also saw an opportunity to use the arts as an
educational tool, to "build dialogues."
Wood began researching African history and incorporating its influence into
her creations in paint, encaustic wax, printmaking, collage and video,
before going back to study at the Ontario College of Art and Design and
finishing a master's degree in art education at the Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education.
"In Canada, few of us are visible. I've witnessed the impact of
marginalization and racism on people around me and I've felt it myself
personally," she explains. "When you don't see yourself reflected, you get
devalued and become invisible."
Wood often uses those experiences as her subject matter, including the
"Letters to My Ancestors" exhibits that illustrate her connection with
African history and legend.
Annoyed by strangers who felt at liberty to touch and poke at her
dreadlocks, Wood rolled film and produced The Lock Narrative, a 10-minute
documentary exploring the experiences of women with dreadlocks.
Wood works part-time at Sistering, helping marginalized women develop art
and business skills, and is currently in Trinidad on an international artist
residency.
She was surprised when told she'd be honoured with the 2006 New Pioneers
Arts Award.
"It's a weird reaction. I'm an immigrant?" she says. "It's a bit of a shock.
I guess it came from the stigma associated with being immigrants, though we
all, except the aboriginal people, are immigrants in this country."
Despite the challenges it brought to her life as a black woman, Wood says
the immigrant journey has helped tremendously in her personal growth and
artistic pursuits.
"Coming from a majority background in the society, you tend to take things
in your life for granted. Being a minority makes you look at things
differently," she explains.
"It's definitely more politicized living in Canada than in Trinidad."
