Cathartic exhibition built on pain and humor

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Senior Ojibway artist Ron Noganosh knows all too well the suffering and racism his people have endured.

A number of Noganosh's very personal pieces reflecting those themes are currently on display at the Greater Victoria Art Gallery.

The show, entitled It Takes Time, opened July 12 and runs until Sept. 22.

Noganosh's work is a satisfying mixture of honesty, humor and heartbreak.

"He brings his messages across very clearly," said Louise Bradbury, marketing assistant for the gallery. "And he's got a great sense of humor."

The current show features sculpture, assemblages and installations spanning 20 years of Noganosh's innovative work.

The most moving piece by far is A-Non-Among-Us, which features a pile of dirt representing a freshly dug grave, with a crude wooden cross at the head.

Above the grave site, a video screen on the wall scrolls through a list of 26 members of Noganosh's immediate and extended family who have died violent deaths.

"I started to make this list," said Noganosh. "By the time I finished, I had dozens of names."

The list names the deceased, Noganosh's relationship to them, and how they died.

As each name scrolls past, the viewer is drawn into the horror of the stabbings, shootings, drownings and violent accidents.

Noganosh calls the work a tribute to the immediacy of violent death in the Native community.

In his political pieces, Noganosh takes on big issues, including nuclear weapons, Oka, the Indian Act and alcoholism.

Another poignant piece features an electric train running in circles around 400 loonies, on a platform featuring the Indian Act document and newspaper clippings, detailing stories of anger and racism, pasted in a collage.

The loonies represent his payment for being "a good Indian," said Noganosh.

Noganosh uses found objects, things most would label 'junk', to create his thought-provoking pieces.

"I hated garbage," said Noganosh. "So I picked it up and started making sculpture from it."

The types of objects Noganosh uses include water turbines, jet engine parts, horseshoes, and scrap wood and metal.

In an ironic twist, Noganosh used rusty chainsaw blades to fashion representations of trees for a sculpture about the preservation of nature.

He ran into some problems when he worked in Denmark a few years ago.

"The city is so clean," laughed Noganosh. "There was no garbage for me to use, not even in the junk yards."

Fortunately for Noganosh, garbage is plentiful on this side of the Atlantic.

The colours he uses are purposeful and symbolic.

"I use red, black, white and yellow to represent the four main races in the world," he said.

Ron Noganosh was born in Magnetawan, Ont. in 1949.

He attended George Brown College and the University of Ottawa, and also held a position as an artist-in-residence in Banff.

His work has been featured in shows all over the world, including Costa Rica, France, Germany, Japan and the United States.

"I started out print-making and sign-making," said Noganosh.

Despite his obvious talent and sophistication, he is by no means financially independent.

"It's difficult to be an artist in Canada," admitted Noganosh. "My work is far better known outside of Canada than here."

This artist has a number of ideas for future projects, including a series of erotic paintings, but lack of funding is often a handicap.

"It's difficult to get support," said Noganosh.