Meryl McMaster – nikihci-âniskotâpân / Bloodline

Meryl McMaster – nikihci-âniskotâpân / Bloodline features large-scale photographic self-portraits and videos from 2008 to 2023 by Meryl McMaster, one of Canada’s leading artists. The works in the exhibition reimagine her mixed nêhiyaw/Métis, Dutch, and British ancestry in thought-provoking ways.

In addition to McMaster’s early works, Bloodline presents recent explorations of family histories, including those of female forebears from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in present-day Saskatchewan. Infusing historical representations of Indigenous Peoples with contemporary concepts and realities, McMaster’s dreamlike images are symbolic repossessions of the land.

McMaster’s thoughtful staging and elaborate costumes — crafted by herself, often with echoes of historical garments and ceremonial regalia — reflect the blended threads of her ancestry, echoing both Indigenous and non-Indigenous concepts. In recent works, she has pictured herself on her father’s home territory of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, along with settings in Newfoundland and Labrador, and in her Ottawa hometown.

Seeking connections across time and place, McMaster — a mother now herself — pays homage to multiple generations of Plains Cree and Métis women in her lineage, while also exploring her European roots.

Bloodline invites viewers into a deeply personal yet universal exploration of family, identity and ancestry through the artist’s past and present work.

An exhibition organized and circulated by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in partnership with Remai Modern.
Curated by
Sarah Milroy, Frances and Tim Price Executive Director and Chief Curator, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Tarah Hogue, Adjunct Curator (Indigenous Art), Remai Modern

In partnership with

With support from