The Lady Giants
The Lady Giants recur as figures in my paintings. l visit them when I need to look hard at what I want to express emotionally in my work. With them I intend to depict strong character, character whose images stand for me in place of self-confidence, in place of belief in personal power, in defence from the impression or influence of others especially when that influence is presumed because of gender distinction.
The Lady Giants are intended to look strong, to look fierce in fact, and they have been described as scary. They also appear somewhat remote, difficult to approach perhaps due to an impression of intense interior dialog.
They are well defended by talons, muscle and size. And they don’t hide behind clothes. Having said that, the fifth Lady Giant, ‘Lady of the Timberline’ is draped with a trade-cloth blanket but otherwise fits the criteria.
This ‘Lady’ is inspired by Thanadelthur (Marten Shake) a Dene_Chipewyan woman of the 18th century. Thanadelthur negotiated peace and trade between the Hudson’s Bay Fur Trading Company and her Dene people in spite of hostilities with the Cree who stood between.
Artist's Statement
I was born and raised in Northern Ontario. My father was born on the Fort William Reserve. His father was of mixed Ojibwe parents and his mother Acadian. My mother is a war bride from England and all of my family’s stories speak of the rich experience of mixed cultures and the raw newness of the North American frontier.
The story is the primary intent of the images you will find here. Figures, actions and places, whether observed or imagined, are brought together to convey the nature of experience, feeling or vision. Beginning with line, forms grow and incline toward recognizable figures. Figures touch, or don’t touch creating the impression of relationship. If I can keep the lines and forms strong, and the relationships clear, a story will be told and will have an effect on the viewer even if I made it all up.
Va McCoy
Hibernation
In Ojibwe tradition, Bear is the nurturer, she knows the sources of food and medicines in the bush.
Bear rescued the first human children from starvation by feeding them her own flesh when winter killed off the plants they had learned to feed on.
I bring Bear into the studio with me when winter comes. I ask her spirit for inspiration and fortitude as I make my way toward the images I need to bring into my stories. I trust Bear to direct my vision and to nurture my impulse for creativity.
I spend much of my days exploring the backcountry around my home in Inverness County, Nova Scotia. I gather images of plants, animals, the ghostlike remains of long abandoned homesteads in this very old place.
