Artist

Bonnie Devine

Bonnie Devine was born in Toronto, Ontario. She studied sculpture and installation at the Ontario College of Art and Design and graduated with a Masters Degree in Fine Art from York University in 1999. She is a member of the Serpent River Ojibway First Nation in Northern Ontario, but lives and works in Toronto.

Drawing on a life long interest in textiles and storytelling and blending these with traditional First Nations technologies such as basketry, weaving and sewing, Devine has developed a unique visual vernacular. She has exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Banff Canada and in South America. Examples of her work are in the collections of the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford Ontario, the College Park Court House in Toronto and Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, among others. In addition to drawing, sculpture and installation, Devine writes, publishes and performs her narratives as explorations of the traditional Ojibway themes that are the trajectory of her work. Most recently, Devine has used video as a vehicle to explore and develop these themes.

Artist Code: 169

Videography

A Grim Fairy Tale

2008, 07:00 minutes, colour

Reading Light

2003, 01:00 minutes, b&w, English

Rooster Rock - The Story of Serpent River

2002, 32:00 minutes, English

Critical Writing

Crossing Lines, Building Bridges
by Srimoyee Mitra. Crossing Lines: an Intercultural Dialogue, 2009. Toronto: SAVAC, 2009.
Culture Shock
by Steven Loft. Toronto: V tape, 2008.
Storytelling in Art: Bonnie Devine's Stories From The Shield
by Sharon Humphrey. Manitoban, June 21, 2004.