The present catalogue documents the exhibition "Teresa Marshall: A Bed to the Bones" by Teresa Marshall at the Contemporary Art Gallery from May 16 to June 27, 1998. The sculptural installation references domestic space, traditional aboriginal culture and Western anthropological/archeological practices. Featuring an analysis by W. Jackson Rushing III.

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A Bed to the Bones

Teresa Marshall

Teresa Marshall is a Vancouver artist of Mi'Kmaq and Scottish ancestry who has an extensive national exhibition record including the National Gallery of Canada's Land, Spirit, Power. In her artwork, Marshall explores the histories and stereotyping that Aboriginal people have faced in North American culture. She is also interested in the cultural crossovers that exist within these histories, and the continuation of a First Nations sensibility within a contemporary technological era. Marshall achieves this with installations that are welcoming and witty, and which simultaneously bring attention to serious issues embedded within the First Nations political landscape.

*A Bed to the Bones* is an installation that consolidates many of Marshall's interests of the past two years. Using stretched rawhide skins, tobacco leaf mache and materials that mimic bone, she has constructed furniture and everyday objects, many of which can function as drums. The exhibition plays upon both domestic space and archeological finds, and includes a variety of objects that, while not comprising a linear narrative, are associated with issues of residential schools, genocide and the domestication of Aboriginal peoples. The economy of materials and elegant monochromatic colours of these objects create an environment of quietude and contemplation that is disrupted by the potential utility of these drums/objects. With reference to First Nations traditions, these "inanimate" objects become communicators that resonate with a history. Rather than a nostalgic return to Aboriginal history, Marshall places the implications of that history into the present.

This is Teresa Marshall's first solo exhibition in Vancouver. She is a recipient of the City of Vancouver's three year Artist Residency Award.

Essay: "A Bed to the Bones," W. Jackson Rushing III

Various artworks are installed in a gallery space. Five low wooden benches, or ironing boards, are placed in a row. A pair of long wooden poles are laid on the floor some feet away from the benches. 

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Many brown-coloured artworks are installed in a gallery. A wood table, a dressmaking mannequin, a pair of shoes, and a bed are placed on the floor. Ten paintings are mounted on the wall above the bed.

Teresa Marshall

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