The Art Gallery of Calgary presents “Down the Rabbit Hole“, a group show of four Canadian artists including Heather Watts. Here is a interview with Heather about her beautiful and intricate piece “Tree of Life” which she painted for the show.
You painted “Tree of Life” for an upcoming show at the Art Gallery of Calgary. Can you talk a little bit about the show?
The show is called Down the Rabbit Hole: The Whimsical World of Pop Surrealism and features the work of four Canadian artists. I’m so excited to see the term ‘pop surrealism’ come up at a major Canadian public gallery. That is really rare to see. The genre is still not that well-known here, even though we have some amazing artists in the movement and people in general seem to respond to the art really well. I think that’s why it’s finally catching on a bit, because galleries want to be showing art that interests people, especially young people, and pop surrealism here has that feeling of being new and young.
The other three artists in the show are Eric Louie, Pilar Mehlis and Landon-Jon Ference. 
Among the four of us, some of the art is vastly different. I think it speaks to the inclusive way pop surrealism is defined, both by artists in the movement and by the mainstream art world. I’m really looking forward to seeing the art displayed together and hearing a bit from the other artists about their motivations and influences to see how they compare to my own.
The tree of life concept appears in religion, mythology and folklore from around the world. What about it inspired you to paint it?
I love the fact that it is such a universal theme, and also that there are specific symbols attached to it by different traditions that I could draw from, but at a base level the 
meaning of the tree itself is what drew me to want to paint it. Creation, life, growth, strength and continuity are core aspects of what I want to express with my work and are all symbolized by the tree. For me, it evokes something larger than ourselves, something powerful and old and maybe a bit mysterious, but also alive, almost sentient.
Your paintings have a narrative quality to them. What is going on in “Tree of Life”?
First I should say that often people interpret my paintings differently than I would, seeing things in them that I didn’t intend, projecting their own stories onto my work, and I always find that really fascinating. In a way I 
think the experience of viewing a painting is sort of the opposite of reading a novel: In the case of a book, no two readers visualize the characters and scenes the same way, even though the words that make the story are the same for everyone. In the case of a painting, everyone sees the same image, but the feelings, meanings and stories people come up with will be different. Even though each painting has a definite story for me, the images can leave a lot of ambiguity. So when I explain the story behind this work, I don’t feel like that is the only story, or the only proper or valid interpretation, but I do think it has a special place as being my intended story for the piece.
To me, this painting is about imagination, and about the power of imagining something better, something that defies your circumstances, even when they seem bleak and overwhelming. In the image itself, this tree of life is very lush and blooming, sort of at the height of spring and summer, while the environment around is brown and dead, a fall landscape with cut trees and menacing vultures. In my narrative, these children join hands to form a ring around the tree in a sort of game or ritual in which they collectively create the tree, protecting it, keeping it lush and alive. They are ‘imagining’ something powerful and life-giving at the center of this 
barren forest, amidst the vultures and the stumps and dead leaves.
The costumes tie into this theme of imagination, the act of pretending which can be so powerful when you are a child. The character of the fox, for example. Maybe he is part of the circle because he is cunning and has tricked his way in, but to me, I think that he’s a child in a fox costume who has become so absorbed in play that he or she has become the fox. The old-timey ghost child beside him is a sort of bridge to the past, evoking the timelessness of childhood games. Some of the other children have costumes that relate to characters in the tree, the white bird costume in the front middle is for me similar to the owl-faced cherubs protecting the tree. The black sheep on the left is reflected in the lamb above on the right, the bee costume on the right relates to the beehives in the upper left.
To me, these children are spinning something out of nothing, out of an environment that doesn’t offer them anything, joining hands playfully to imagine something strong and alive. Metaphorically I think that act can have meaning for each of us facing our own individual struggles, but also in our collectively facing global issues that often seem overwhelming. Both of these considerations inspired me to paint this ‘story’.
The human heart is an image that has appeared in your work before. What is its significance here?
There are so many connotations to the symbol of the heart, I know people will find other meanings behind the heart than what I intend, but for me it is sort of a symbol of the great capacity we have as humans that goes beyond intellect, a symbol for the power of feeling. The heart is the seat of our authentic voice, the place we seek guidance from, the thing we trust even when our mind doesn’t agree. Making the heart a central piece of the work here is sort of saying that that’s where this vision, this imagination has to come from, because it won’t come from our intellect. I imagine the hearts of these kids dancing around the tree, totally immersed in what they are doing, heart and soul. Their hearts are in it, literally.
Show Information:
Down the Rabbit Hole: The Whimsical World of Pop Surrealism
February 10, 2012 to April 7, 2012
The Art Gallery of Calgary
117 – 8 Avenue S.W.
Calgary, Alberta Canada T2P 1B4
24-hour Information Line: 403.770.1350
info@artgallerycalgary.org
www.artgallerycalgary.org
Image
“Tree of Life” by Heather Watts, 18” x 24” Acrylic on wood panel, 2011 and detail shots
