Fall brings a time for reflection in “They didn’t know we were seeds” at TBT Gallery in Calgary

Artist Carol Wylie provides a window into survivors of the Holocaust and Residential Schools

by Shelley Werner

(Calgary) – They didn’t know we were seeds is an exhibit that brings to life profiles of suffering and survival as experienced in the trauma of the past by Holocaust survivors, and present, by Residential School survivors. Carol Wylie realized that through her art she could shine a light on the resilience of those that have undergone great personal tragedy and emerged from darkness into breaking sunlight with strength. In large format oil paintings, she carefully documents the faces of people who have undergone immeasurable suffering, resulting in arresting portraits of the triumphant life force.

“They buried us, they didn’t know we were seeds” is written by a Greek philosopher, “and as soon as I saw it, I thought that’s exactly what this exhibition is about. It’s about darkness how people have taken the darkness that they’ve lived through and they’ve grown these wonderful lives out of them. A lot of these people are educators, and they are making sure that these things that happened to them are not forgotten; coming from darkness into a beautiful life was the perfect metaphor for the title of the exhibition.”

According to curator Jennifer Eiserman, the survivors pictured in Carol Wylie’s portraits confront us with a challenging question: “How will you be seeds?” During the three-month exhibition, we will address their question through programming that supports teshuva, reconciliation, and growth.

Wylie realized she’d have to travel to find Holocaust survivors to interview and paint. Saskatchewan however is such a hot bed for Residential Schools that there are many survivors. Many of them are educators. They spend a lot of time educating the public about their experiences and drawing parallels to the Holocaust.

“I was taking Indigenous sensitivity training and I found out for the first time that the Residential School System was referred to as the “final solution” before Hitler used that term for getting rid of the Jews. This dates back to the early part of the century and it was startling to hear that terminology had been used. Then I thought about the other connections of cutting hair, removing children from her families, all the kinds of methods of oppression that were similar in each group of people that is being oppressed.”

The project is not about comparing experiences. It’s about individuals, and how they have risen above the kind of oppression that they dealt with, the kind of cruelty that they’ve been exposed to and rise above that. They have grown past it and have lives, and have families. Understanding that when you hear numbers like six million or a hundred and fifty thousand, they don’t have impact. However, if you think about one individual’s experience, that is something that you can relate to and can be moved by. It might bring a little bit of compassion to understand those stories. That was the idea of bringing those two communities together for her.

She knew when she entered into this project, there were going to be two big stumbling blocks: number one was going to be the sense that people might think that she was exploiting the Indigenous community and the other was the idea of people thinking she was comparing the two experiences.

“For most Jews that identify with their own ethnicity, the Holocaust is a focus and something that we want to make sure is never forgotten, particularly in the face of rising Semitism. I, as a settler in a province that has so many Residential Schools, that didn’t close until 1997 in Saskatchewan, felt like I needed to make a step, in terms of reconciliation.” She wanted to understand that experience better, to hear about it personally from those who experienced it and to get a sense of truth, as far as coming from those who experienced being in those Residential Schools.

It really is not about comparing these two historical events, but rather about individuals and their experience of oppression, and how they endure it and how they rise above it.

 As a portrait artist she has heard the process described as if someone “reached in and touched the consciousness of another.” Most of her portraits are directly looking back at the viewer. She encourages viewers to engage with the subject, and the subject to engage with a viewer. She wants to present viewers with some kind of challenge, hoping that people will get some sense of the experience of each of these sitters.

“The portrait has the sitter engaging with the viewer directly with eye contact, which was very important to the experience. The works are 4’ x 3‘ so that when you get in front of them, they’re larger than life and so you can’t ignore them you can’t walk away; you must engage.”

She wanted to convey the sense of the importance of their stories, the importance of their history, and the understanding of what one individual may have endured over the course of this experience will make people think twice before they enter into the possibility of cruelty, rudeness or mistreatment of people in their lives. She wishes the viewer to identify these people with their commonality as human beings.

“I hope they’ll be a moment of understanding that we’re all the same. We all feel the same if we are oppressed, that there is nothing different about these people, I have tried to make a connection that will build some compassion. It’s big ask, but essentially that’s what it is all about.”

“They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds” can be seen at TBT Gallery, Temple B’nai Tikvah, 900 47 Ave SW, Calgary until December 1, 2024. Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm/ Friday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm or by appointment with the artist

 Shelley Werner is the host of Art and Scroll Studio zoom series that celebrates the makers and creators of Judaica Art. Next episode is on September 18, with featured artist Ellen November. Email artandscrollstudio@gmail.com for advance tickets.