Through her Walking Men Series – 8 foot tall depictions of cropped, business suited men carrying briefcases – Canadian artist Dionne Simpson explores the notion of conformity in Canadian society.

The artist describes her process:

“I paint on and then pull the threads from large canvases using an ancient African technique in which other materials are intricately interwoven into the spaces where the threads have been removed. I add wax and further destroy and embellish the fabric. I fluidly deconstruct and add information to the fabric and out of the subtraction and addition end up creating something completely my own.”

“Employing the canvas as a metaphor for the underlying fabric of Canadian society, Simpson combines tradition with contemporary content to startling effect,” wrote curator Jennifer Rudder. “The work also acts as a record of her ongoing exploration into her identity as it relates to the Canadian cultural backdrop. The business suit is used as a symbol of power and assimilation that exists in stark contrast to the reality of daily life for most Canadians. Through this striking and original body of work she reveals her feelings of displacement in the country she calls home.”

Two works from the series, generously gifted to McMaster Museum of Art by Miriam Shiell, are now on view in the Structure of the World exhibition. Come in and see them for yourselves until August 16, 2104.