Joyce Wieland

Joyce Wieland, Untitled (heartgame), red ink & charcoal on paper, 1956.

The Square Mandala, quilted cloth, 179 x 173 cm, 1966.

Joyce Wieland, worked in many media, pencil (colored), cloth, oil, film, mixed media, bronze sculptures, plastic packaged items in quilt like hangings, cake, flower beds. She passed away from Alzheimer’s in 1998, just 68 years. On another shopping therapy afternoon I picked up her biography by Iris Nowell, Joyce Wieland: Life in Art (see below) on the weekend (charity shop, thank you) and was drawn back to look at her artworks, films, etc anew.  Nowell’s writing style is friendly, respectful, critical, and honest. She had friendship with Wieland over the years; Nowell was married to painter Harold Town. Wieland was also a feminist and once tackled Patriotism during the Trudeau years in Canada, when she thought of Canada as a woman, she claimed. Thus, I remember her most popular pieces such as the quilt, “Reason over Passion” (1968), and “The Spirit of Canada Suckles the French and English Beavers” (1970-1971). A google image search will show you the variety of her art.

Artist on Fire, oil on canvas, 106.7 x 127.5 cm, 1983.

Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, Database, CCCA, Joyce Wieland work timeline

Canadian Art Magazine feature (2011) for Wieland’s exhibit “True Patriot Love”.

Canadian Digital Collection, Celebrating Women’s Achievements, Themes, Joyce Wieland.

Joyce Wieland Film Catalogue at the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre.