THEVOICE | 4 THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 | EDITOR KRISTYN ANTHONY Arts&entertainment The Coast Salish spindle whorl is a common theme in Susan Point's work, on display now at the VAG and Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery. syoney MorTON PHOTO Musqueam artist makes history with VAG exhibit Female carver Susan Point celebrates 30-year art career = By SYDNEY MORTON usqueam artist Susan Point is presenting her first ever solo show at the Vancouver Art Gal- lery, spanning a 30-year career pushing the boundaries of traditional First Na- tions art. Spindle Whorl features Point’s sculp- tural works, prints, glass and her sketch- books. Vancouverites are already famil- iar with Point’s work. In 2004, she designed the storm drain covers now seen all over the city and her welcome poles are permanently installed at the Vancouver International Airport. In a press release from the VAG, Debra Zhou said Spindle Whorl is the most extensive exhibition to date fea- turing the work by this pre-eminent Musqueam artist. At Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gal- lery, Xal: Making Her Mark, is running in conjunction with Point’s show at the VAG. The exhibition marks a celebration not only of Point’s career, but the long-standing relationship between Point and Svetlana Fouks, one of the founders and owners of Coastal Peoples Fine Art Gallery. “She is [in] the upper echelon of the Coast Salish artists otherwise Le she wouldn't be featured in this way,” said Fouks. Point’s artwork has earned her the ti- tle of contemporary artist as she pushes boundaries but maintains the tradition- al Coast Salish style. “Her designs are traditional and use a lot of realism, and that’s the style of Coast Salish art,” Fouks said. “This is “Tt just elevates the indigenous Coast Salish territory that needs to be represented by Coast Salish Art.” Point’s show at the VAG moved Georgia Kelly, a retired nurse. “The work is absolute genius, every- thing you see, it just elevates the indig- enous experience above and beyond,” she said. “T am actually kind of surprised that the gallery [VAG] didn’t do Susan Point earlier since she has been around for a long time,” said Anna Nobile, a writer who also took in the . b d exhibition. experience above an Fouks believes Point’s ” success is rooted in how beyond. connected she is to her — GEORGIA KELLY culture and the tradition of RETIRED NURSE passing down knowledge from one generation to an- —! other. “Her art is extremely integral in her life and that is what everybody connects to,” said Fouks. Point was unavailable for comment by press time. Guilty in theatre of the mind Metro Theatre blurs the lines of reality in production of Guilty Conscience = By LAURA BROUGHAM F inding the difference between reality and imagination is the premise for Metro Theatre’s new production Guilty Conscience, running March 4-25. Francis Boyle, a Studio 58 alumni, takes on the role of criminal defence lawyer, Arthur Jamison who plans to murder his wife Louise, to avoid pay- ing alimony. The play takes the audience through a succession of scenarios in his mind where Jamison commits and gets away with murder. It soon becomes dif- ficult to separate truth from fiction. With such intimate themes at play, having a cast and crew already familiar with one another proved to be benefi- cial. Joseph Balint who plays the pros- ecutor, reunited with his high school drama teacher, Don Briard. “The reason why I took the part was that | Don was direct- ing it,” Balint said. “I wanted to see what it was like to interact i with him as an adult, as opposed to him directing me as a child.” Balint said, for his character, the script made it easy to distinguish be- tween reality and imaginary. “The script lends itself both to the deception and the reveal of that decep- tion,” he said. Boyle said the audience will wonder which scenes are real, while Arthur struggles with his marriage. “Arthur has these imaginations on how he would like to do away with his wife because he's not in a very good marital situation,” Boyle said. Ultimately, it’s the audience who will determine where the line is between what is real and what is imagined. “We won't know whether we've achieved it until we have an audience,” Briard said. “Is the audience going to be confused or intrigued? We're just go- ing to cross our fingers and turn out the lights and see what happens.” Don Briard DIRECTOR, GUILTY CONSCIENCE Scallywags off on another adventure Langara English instructor debuts second graphic novel & By EVAN HAGEDORN I angara English instructor Trevor Newland continues his graphic novel series with the release of two new volumes last December. The Race to Pisa is the second in the Scallywag Series, a rollicking story of pirates on adventure on the high seas. The unique characters were all written and illustrated by Newland. Mighty Melvin the Magnificent Mouse is the start of a new series about a tiny mouse with big plans. Inspired by the clas- sic adventure novels of his childhood, Newland started the series after becom- ing disillusioned working in the music industry. “I was pretty deflated cause that’s all I had done ever for a living,” Newland said. “I just went back to drawing which is what I used to do as a kid.” Although billed as children’s books, Newland said the new editions use dark humour, tidbits of history and a vintage look to attract adult readers as well. The popularity of graphic novels are at an all-time high, according to Jamie Tolagson, who works at Pulpfiction Books on Main Street. “In the 80's they were pretty much restricted to kids or teenagers,” Tolag- son said. “Through the 90’s it’s really ex- ploded, and now it’s pretty mainstream. Now you can buy them everywhere.” Newland is now at work on a new project, a wordless graphic novel titled The Atheneum, the story of a boy without a mouth. “The new book I’m working on is re- ally good,” Newland said. “It’s about a boy who goes on a dreamy trip through many classic adventure stories, like ‘Treasure Island and Sherlock Holmes.” Trevor Newland in his office at Langara College. evan HAGEDORN PHOTO