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for CREATES, MARLENE
CREATES, MARLENE
CANADIAN, b. 1952
venture has been to closely observe and work within the six acres (2.4 hectares) area of old-growth boreal forest where she lives, at the edge of the Blast Hole Pond Conservation Area, which she helped establish in the town of Portugal Cove on the island of Newfoundland / Ktaqmkuk.
Born and raised Montreal, Creates obtained a BFA at Queen’s University in Kingston in 1974,
and then lived in Ottawa for twelve years where she taught art. In 1985 she moved to Newfoundland—the home of her maternal ancestors, who were settlers on Fogo Island and in Lewisporte. Initially inspired by the American Earthwork art movement popularized by Robert Smithson (1938-1973), Walter De Maria (1935-2013), Michael Heizer (b. 1944) and Nancy Holt (1938-2014), Creates created a series of temporary earthworks which she photographed, as seen in the Paper, Stones and Water series (1979–1985).
As Creates practice developed she began to expand her examinations to include ongoing communal, industrial and political impacts on the environment as well. One of her more famous works from this period is the 1988 series entitled The Distance Between Two Points is Measured in Memories in which she examined not only that natural landscape but also the cultural ones, specifically those involving “lost” indigenous histories. As the artist stated in the accompanying press release: “For the past 10 years I have worked in remote areas where most of my landworks were related to the “natural” aspects of the sites. Then I be came interested in what we would call the “cultural”: the people who have lived closest to these places. From them I began to understand that there are certain things about their lives which are being left behind — certain things that matter to them, their experiences of the world which are so different from my own.” These works included photographs, drawing, pieces of the land itself and memory maps (a form of cognitive mapping, also countermapping or de-mapping) that were drawn for her by Indigenous elders from various bands across Canada.
A nationally recognized veteran of the Canadian art community, Creates has presented over 100 solo exhibitions and screenings across Canada and abroad (including several nationally touring exhibitions) and has held over 40 site-specific, multidisciplinary events at The Boreal Poetry Garden next to her home. Throughout her career Creates has been heralded for her unique
perspective within the development of contemporary Canadian art and through lectures, writing, exhibitions, and teaching she’s emerged as one of this countries leading figures in both the environmental sector as well as the visual arts.
In recognition of these accomplishments Creates was presented with the 1996 Artist of the Year Award from the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council, the 2009 CARFAC National Visual Arts Advocate Award, the 2009 VANL-CARFAC Long Haul Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts, the 2013 BMW Exhibition Prize at the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, and the 2014 Grand Jury Award at the Yosemite International Film Festival. In September 2017, a retrospective of her work – Places, Paths, and Pauses – was presented at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton and although Creates primarily exhibited in museums, universities and artist-run spaces for most of her professional career, she began working with the Toronto dealer Paul Petro in 2013, who’s managed to increase the value and demand for her work within the market.
Person TypeIndividual
CANADIAN b.1960/CANADIENNE, née en 1960
CANADIAN b. SCOTLAND, 1968 / CANADIEN né en ÉCOSSE, 1968
