Arthur Renwick’s portrait series Mask is a departure from his previous work in multimedia landscape photography. These large colour prints document First Nations people who have come up against cultural assumptions about their heritage throughout their careers. Whether they are archeologists like Michael White, hired to excavate bones in a suburban residential development, or actors like Fernando Hernandez, who played a Mayan shaman in Mel Gibson’s new film Apocalypto, they have all had to combat prevailing stereotypes in order to establish and retain their own identity.

The relationship between First Nations people and the camera extends from the mid-1800s into the present. Early photographs created the image of the Plains Indian in a feathered headdress, the "noble savage" from a "vanishing race." The legacy of these early photographs continued in Hollywood cowboy and Indian movies and permeated American popular culture. This pervasive stereotyping has been complicit in rendering individual First Nations people invisible.

During the portrait sittings for Mask, Renwick initiated a dialogue with his subjects seeking their thoughts on the notion of identity. Emphasizing that Mask is a contemporary series of portraits, Renwick asked the sitters to think about the history of the camera and its relationship to the Indian. To undermine traditional Indian portraiture, he invited the sitters to look into the lens and make a facial gesture. Renwick’s subjects offered fresh and often startling images that are neither stoic nor noble.

At a time when other contemporary artists are making a practice of perpetuating the Indian stereotype in their photographs, Renwick’s portraits subvert expectations, offering a new consideration of First Nations representation to the history of portraiture.

In this series, Jennifer Long examines a commonplace routine: the way women prepare their hair as they start the day. By isolating the particular moment and removing the subjects from their environment, the common act of hair brushing evolves from one of simple, personal introspection to one of vulnerability. Chins raised, jaws taut and chests bared, the women challenge the viewer and refuse to be categorized. Their wet hair becomes an extension of the body - a protein. The damp locks form a kind of shield; the skin’s scars, freckles and stretch marks evidence battles fought and lives lived. The soft flesh and bold stance reveal a balance between vulnerability and confidence.  Are they opening themselves up for tenderness or straining against an attack?  Either way, they are in control.

In this exhibition the women stand independent, yet shoulder-to-shoulder, aligned and indomitable. Their monumental scale creates a presence that commands respect.  Even as these images strip the women of their individual identities, they reveal something greater. This morning routine, this donning of armor, attests to continuity, to the strength of women throughout generations and how a small, everyday act can express and
reinforce it.