Crystal Przybille's Okanagan Monuments: A Dialogue Across Time // Michaela Bridgemohan
As part of a new series of essays taking inspiration from the Alternator archive, Michaela Bridgemohan considers Crystal Przybille’s practice, and the connections between two of Przybille’s recent public art commissions: The Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture (2012) and The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument (2019).
We are of earth and from the stars, cooked mud and pigmented wax, soot and soda, ink, wood, tobacco, fur, fire, bronze, and acrylic nails—mortal inhabitants of the earth dreaming of our spiritual or extraterrestrial foil. (Thompson 53)
Dear reader, drawn from this recipe of earthly materials is a concoction to reaffirm your body's geography; I invite you to journey toward the waters of Okanagan Lake, situated in Syilx Okanagan Territory.
From Bernard Avenue, walk upwards (north) and head towards the Waterfront Promenade, the location of the Kelowna Visitor Centre. Naturally, taking in the peaks that roll with the scroll of your eye, a figure stands with you.
Stand with him and perceive his frame.
He is adorned with an eagle feather headwear, a bear claw necklace and a Saskatoon branch embroidered loincloth with coyote and salmon behind his heel. As you trace his arm to his hand, grasping an eagle fan, you can notice the surface of his skin shifts from cool brown to luminous bronze when the sun shines upon him. The light reveals his skin's texture, which resembles soft, pushed clay.
Like you, this bronze figure is not invincible to the passage of time. Eventually, it will lose its lustre, and parts will corrode and tarnish into a patina[1]. The memory of his birth will fade. A descendant from unturned soil—remains of flora, fauna and various minerals that were pushed through a tightly bound sieve and folded into large blocks of mud. However, his six-foot frame will not be lost amongst the everchanging landscape and waters. If you stay with him long enough, you can witness him melt into the mountains as they are both swallowed by the Okanagan’s obsidian night sky.
Side view of The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument (2019). Image courtesy of the artist.
The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument
I first encountered The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument after a poignant ZOOM interaction with Secwepemc artist Tania Willard, shortly after arriving in the Okanagan in July 2020. Tania suggested that I spend quality time outside with the land and observe the lake. My response to this was, “To observe boating culture?” This memory is triggered by Tania’s laughter, and to this day, I react by facepalming myself. However, something must be said about my reductive first impression of Kelowna and the Okanagan Lake. Lakeside living is not familiar to me. RVs have no appeal to my senses, and starkly white sculptures of dolphins distort my reality since we are nowhere near the ocean. For myself, encountering The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument grounded my body and stabilized my connection to the land. A sobering experience.
The attentive hand that sculpted this work is that of Okanagan-based artist Crystal Przybille. Since her debut solo exhibition at the Alternator Center for Contemporary Art in 1997, Przybille’s work has expanded from painting to a focus on sculpture and public art, and has been shaped by an impressive list of group and solo exhibitions and residencies both within Canada and internationally. It is hard to overlook, however, the impact of one commission in particular on the trajectory of Przybille’s career (and that of the The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument); The Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture[2] (2012).
Przybille’s Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture[3] (2012), produced in collaboration with the Okanagan Historical Society, marked the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the first Euro-Canadian settlement in the Okanagan Valley. The project, initiated and led by Przybille, required the creation of new partnerships across agencies, organizations and funders. As an artist and inquisitive historical researcher, Przybille spent an immense amount of time exploring Father Pandosy’s role in creating the “first permanent, Euro-Canadian settlement” in the Okanagan (Przybille 51). Throughout her inquiry, she encountered reoccurring omissions of Indigenous Syilx involvement, particularly Chief Sʷknc̓ut’s, who rescued the priest and accompanying settlers who were unprepared for the harsh weather and nearing starvation (Przybille 52).
Wary of creating “another tool of colonization” in a bronze monument that notes a one-sided narrative, Przybille approached Westbank First Nation for collaboration (Przybille 53). With their guidance, Przybille was trusted to undertake substantial research and growth on her own. This included confronting the complexities, ethics and responsibilities of handling Indigenous Knowledge and traditions as a descendent of a European settler background—a fraught aspect since the impact of colonialism erased the voices of Indigenous Peoples and continues to dismiss their cultural histories.
There is a general assumption that artists create aesthetically pleasing “things” and nothing more. This limited understanding overlooks the significant personal reflection and research that are required to create the most successful works. And often, artists do not work alone. They are accompanied and guided by mindful individuals, intellectuals of various expertise and/or scholarly books. Even participating in the land provides quantitative experience and perspective.
Pryzbille’s partnership with Westbank First Nation was a critical factor in the success of the Pandosy monument, as was her dedication to disrupting the typical trajectory of historical commissions that too often comply with one-dimensional representations of history. However, the success of projects such as the Pandosy monument also require the ‘establishment’ – funders, partners and organizations - to provide space, time and flexibility to support artists as they follow the process they feel is necessary to create artistic excellence.
In the case of Przybille’s work, this trust in the creative process resulted in not one notable work, but two. On completion of the Pandosy monument in 2012, Przybille began a decade-long commission funded by Westbank First Nation to create a counterpoint to the Pandosy sculpture - The Chief Sʷknc̓ut Monument.
Crystal Przybille is an award winning artist who has exhibited, and participated in artist residencies, nationally and abroad. Through her public art, Przybille explores how art can function to construct and deconstruct personal and public narratives and consciousness. Przybille is a sessional instructor in Creative Studies at The University of British Columbia, Okanagan.
Michaela Bridgemohan is a Black mixed-race interdisciplinary artist who gratefully resides on Syilx territory, Kelowna, B.C. She holds an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of British Columbia—Okanagan. While examining theoretical writings on Caribbean-Canadian thought, Bridgemohan considers cultural practices and empirical observation legitimate forms of research and artmaking.
Footnotes
[1] Patina is a green film that occurs naturally during the oxidization process found on the surface of various metal materials, such as copper, brass, and bronze. Though this slow process shows the age of the object(s), it is highly desired aesthetically. Some artists intentionally speed up the patina oxidization process by utilizing chemical compounds.
[2] An art residency is a program-based intensive where various artists of all disciplines travel to an institution or community to produce artwork individually or collaboratively. Institutions provide space, resources and other materials to facilitate a supportive environment for artists developing new artwork and ideas.
[3] The Father Pandosy sculpture was supported by the Okanagan Historical Society, the Canadian Heritage Legacy Fund, the Okanagan Mission Residents Association and other private sources and non-profit organizations. The piece was later collected by the City of Kelowna. More information can be found at: https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/arts-culture-heritage/public-art/public-art-collection-listing/father-pandosy-mission-150th-anniversary-commemorative-sculpture
Bibliography
Przybille, Crystal. Transforming Settler Identity through Art and Engagement with Indigenous Culture in the Okanagan. 2020. The University of British Columbia Okanagan, Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Thesis.
Thompson, Shauna. Cooked Earth and Cosmic Kin. Earthlings = Nunajuarmi Nunaqaqtut = Terriens, edited by Boyle, Shary, et al. Esker Foundation, Calgary, 2017, pp. 53.