Spirit of the Bluebird
Xtine Cook & Jesse Gouchey
Calgary 2011, HD 5:49
Using
spray paint on a fence and garage where Aboriginal mother and grandmother
Gloria Black Plume was brutally murdered in 1999, Cree artist Jesse Gouchey
paints a large scale animation of a bluebird in flight. The beauty and freedom
of the bluebird’s motion is contrasted with remembrances of Gloria’s surviving
family members, which give an emotional glimpse of a woman lost to violence and
the injustice of the legal system.
Spirit
of the Bluebird is a fitting tribute to a woman who embodied the bluebird
spirit and speaks to deeper themes of the ongoing mistreatment of Canada’s Aboriginal
peoples by the criminal justice system and the long term negative effects of
the residential school system.
Music
by Kainai singer Jonathan Tall Man, Gloria Black Plume’s gifted nephew.
Xtine
Cook lives in the house behind which Gloria Black Plume was murdered. For 11
years, she sought contact with Gloria’s family and searched for an Aboriginal
artist to create a memorial mural. This film is the result of that search.
Raised
in Red Deer, Jesse Gouchey grew up drawing and sketching as a hobby while
competing with his siblings for the best quality art. Leaning as much about
fine art as he could at school, Jesse took to street art and graffiti to satisfy
his need for colour and expression.
After
working in and then leaving the oil patch to move to Calgary, Jesse began
mixing traditional West Coast native styles with modern media and began selling
canvasses. Curating, exhibiting and collaborating in many shows, he has shown
in galleries around Central Alberta.
Jesse
received animation training at Quickdraw Aniamtion’s Aboriginal Youth Animation
Project and has completed two short animated films. Jesse is currently a junior
artist on an Aboriginal graphic novel, and enjoys how his art has brought him
closer to his Cree heritage.
