The Apple Trees Were All in Bloom, 2008

Oil on mylar, 20.3 cm x 25.4 cm

Neil McClelland

Neil McClelland is a MAIS student and maintains a regular studio practice. His current body of work uses family photographs as source material to explore themes of personal narrative, identity and nostalgia. He was the Artist in Residence for 2009-2010 at Harcourt House Arts Centre in Edmonton and he has taught at the Art Gallery of Alberta and in other art education programs. He is represented by galleries in Calgary and Ottawa.

I painted The Apple Trees Were All in Bloom as part of an installation in which I appropriated the idea of my mother’s wall of family photographs. These small paintings in their mismatched frames, hung salon style represent a web of family relationships across time. The project was part of an investigation into personal narrative, family stories and art as autobiography stimulated in part by my MAIS studies.

I selected this painting for submission to the journal because the figures grouped around the table, although they are my family, remind me of us, students and professors in the MAIS program, brought together around a virtual “table” in dialogue that spans different generations, interests and lived experiences.

Note regarding previous publication of images: As part of being exhibited, my art is available for the media to photograph, film and write about and images have appeared in advertisements and reviews.