Artist expands his boundaries with important commission

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The Four Directions, a sculpture created by Lionel Peyachew, who teaches art at the University of Lethbridge, has been chosen to grace the campus of the University of Regina.

The sculpture, which featuring four stylized bows, their arrows pointing north, east, south and west, was chosen from 20-plus proposals submitted to the university by Aboriginal artists from across the country. This is the first major commission for Peyachew.

The sculpture, expected to be in place sometime in the spring of 2005, will sit near the entrance to the First Nations University of Canada's (FNUC) building on the campus.

"It's a terribly dynamic and strong piece and that's really what we were looking for," said Kathleen Irwin, a professor with the University of Regina's fine arts department of Peyachew's entry.

"We were looking for a piece that reflected philosophically the mandate or the philosophy of the First Nations University, that speaks to the integrity of the land in all parts of our community and certainly in all parts of education," she said.

"The piece itself ... is both full of tension but also full of potential. And that makes it dynamic and forward looking, but also at the same time reflective. So it's a very strong piece and I think it does all things we hoped it would do."

Irwin said the decision was made to commission an Aboriginal sculpture to compliment the FNUC building, designed by Alberta Aboriginal architect Douglas Cardinal.

"And [the building] is really the cornerstone now of our campus and gives the Aboriginal community a huge visual presence on the university that was really absent before. And in keeping with that, I think that various members of the community felt that a significant cultural object on campus would also be appropriate at this point in time to reflect the significance and the importance of Aboriginal culture to the University of Regina campus, and in fact, to the city of Regina, and in fact to the entire province and, in fact, to the whole country," Irwin said.

Peyachew began studying art in 1977 when he attended Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary. After completing his studies, he found jobs in construction and with the City of Calgary, but nothing in the field of art. Then in 1996 when he decided to go back to school to get a degree in education, his path lead him back to the world of art. He was taking some art classes as electives and, at the urging of his instructors, switched his major from education to art. He earned a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Calgary in 1998 and a master's degree in fine arts in 2000.

Peyachew's art has gone through transitions over the years. His work has always been infused with Native themes, but at first the pieces he created were representational, appearing as they did when they were used in the distant past.

But when Lionel Peyachew tried to show his work in galleries they told him the pieces belonged in a museum, so he changed his approach, creating the same types of items but in a more abstract way.

This university commission is forcing him to again change the way he works. Up until now, Peyachew has always used found objects or objects from the environment to create his art.

The original model of The Four Directions was created using wood and sinew. The 24-foot high version he will create for the university will be made of steel pipe and cables-materials he has never worked with before.

"It might even be another step to my art journey," he said. "It could be even something I'll even go into in the future."

The change from wood to metal was made to extend the life of the piece, but despite the change Peyachew said the spirit of the sculpture will remain unchanged.

"The vision will be there; only the material will be different," he said. The sculpture will be left to rust naturally so, with the help of time and the elements, the piece will eventually look much like the original version.