About
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Henry Melissa Gordon (she/they) is a visual artist and educator, and a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Henry immigrated to Canada from South Africa as a child. Later, she studied and worked in the UK for many years, then returned to Canada and graduated from the University of Waterloo's MFA (Studio Art) program in 1999. Soon after that, she started a long journey of healing and self-growth before returning to an art practice full-time a decade ago. Henry worked for a dozen years as a workshop presenter and life coach at a retreat centre near Bancroft, Ontario. She has a deep interest in making work that provokes conversations and new perspectives.
After a 5-year break in the Guelph area, Henry has returned home to North Hastings and is working at the Art Gallery of Bancroft, and is also enthusiastically immersed in her art practice. Henry lives and works on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe People and gratefully acknowledges the rich histories, cultures, and ongoing land stewardship of Indigenous Peoples. Henry commits to actively learning about and supporting Truth and Reconciliation and amplifying Indigenous voices. |
Artist Statement
I am currently working on two main projects called ‘Towards Reconciliation’ and ‘Altered States’.
‘Towards Reconciliation’ started when I participated in an art exhibition called “Truth & Reconciliation” in my local community of Bancroft, ON. The exhibition was curated by two Algonquin Anishinaabe artists. I felt my small contribution wasn’t enough to represent the enormous change in perspective needed to support the dismantling of post-colonial systems of hierarchy, power and racism that, consciously or unconsciously, inform many white Canadians’ relationship to Indigenous Peoples.
I had been reading Jody Wilson-Raybould’s book, “True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change”, and wanted to work on change in my community using Wilson-Raybould’s model of ‘Learn’, ‘Understand’ and ‘Act’. With the help of an Algonquin Cultural Mentor, Robin Tinney, I worked with thirteen local 50- to 80-year-olds (a group who often express a lack of knowledge of true Canadian history). I overlaid fragments of their words on a background of the local natural world to create a series of paintings that represent a journey towards Reconciliation.
‘Altered States’ is an ongoing series of paintings that explores some of the altered states that humans experience. In these paintings, I am inspired by emotional states, dream states, psychedelic journeying, age-related cognitive changes (like Alzheimer’s and dementia), and my experiences of living with epilepsy. I have had multiple petit mal seizures. My creative projects explore the depth and magic of human experience in this physical realm. I want to support understanding and healing between people.
‘Towards Reconciliation’ started when I participated in an art exhibition called “Truth & Reconciliation” in my local community of Bancroft, ON. The exhibition was curated by two Algonquin Anishinaabe artists. I felt my small contribution wasn’t enough to represent the enormous change in perspective needed to support the dismantling of post-colonial systems of hierarchy, power and racism that, consciously or unconsciously, inform many white Canadians’ relationship to Indigenous Peoples.
I had been reading Jody Wilson-Raybould’s book, “True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change”, and wanted to work on change in my community using Wilson-Raybould’s model of ‘Learn’, ‘Understand’ and ‘Act’. With the help of an Algonquin Cultural Mentor, Robin Tinney, I worked with thirteen local 50- to 80-year-olds (a group who often express a lack of knowledge of true Canadian history). I overlaid fragments of their words on a background of the local natural world to create a series of paintings that represent a journey towards Reconciliation.
‘Altered States’ is an ongoing series of paintings that explores some of the altered states that humans experience. In these paintings, I am inspired by emotional states, dream states, psychedelic journeying, age-related cognitive changes (like Alzheimer’s and dementia), and my experiences of living with epilepsy. I have had multiple petit mal seizures. My creative projects explore the depth and magic of human experience in this physical realm. I want to support understanding and healing between people.