Stace & Amanda Pshyk

Artist Biography

“Passionate ~ Expressive ~ Adventurous
I have found love, myself, and my dream”.

Amanda was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the granddaughter of a WWII Veteran and English War-Bride Painter on her father’s side, and Gospel Singers on her mother’s. Growing up, Amanda’s family moved every few years to a new culture. She enjoyed Danish pastry and crafts in New Denmark, and learned French in Grand-Falls. Living in the Dene village of Wrigley NWT, Amanda was privileged to learn Dene beading, tufting, and furs from community elders. It was here she first experienced the Aurora Borealis, smoked Caribou meat, a drum-dance, and a four-seater float-plane. Moving to Nunavut, on Broughton Island, the Inuit welcomed her into their culture. She learned Inuktitut, watched a master carver, experienced throat-singing, and listened to their stories.

“I discovered my love of music, dance, and visual art as a teenager, but never dreamed I would make my life in the arts”. Upon arriving in Whitehorse during the Klondike Gold Rush Centennial Celebration in June 1998, Amanda began the journey that she is still on today. “I met, fell in love, and married my husband and soul-mate Stace here: together we’ve found healing, who we really are, and how we want to enjoy our lives”. Her husband, Stace, is a professional artist, making his debut at the BC Festival of the Arts nearly 20 years ago. He is a pen-ink painter, metal sculptor, stone carver, and digital artist. They are both digital photographers and print-makers, and manage their own websites. Amanda and Stace also have fun with collaborations, unconventionally fusing many of their artforms and mediums.

Amanda has been beading for over 15 years, and enjoys everything from jewellery to clothing and accessories. She designs her wire & gem jewellery with a variety of materials such as Flamework-Glass, Swarovski Crystal, gemstones, pearls, and vintage pieces. “I use a free-form sculpting technique to fashion my jewellery, and I create from my feeling and the energy of my mood. I want to give the bejeweled a sense of traveling to another place, channeling an emotion, or wearing the elements.” Amanda and Stace are members of the Yukon Arts Society Arts Underground Gallery, have been a part of the Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative, and show in Copper Moon Gallery. Shy Arts is their entrepreneurial adventure, and keeps them very busy. The Pshyks are proudly self-taught/produced/promoted, and are excited to now be doing the same for other artists.

“Our inspiration comes from each other, culture, nature, and the passions of life. We are thankful for our God-given gifts, and intend to live our dreams and experience all the world has to offer.”

“Freedom – a state of being, an achievement, a way of life.”

Stace was born the great-grandson of a Cree Medicine Woman, in the Kootenays of British Columbia, to a Scottish-Cree mother and Ukrainian Father. Growing up in the mountains, he enjoyed the majestic landscape, but would soon discover he had a much more personal relationship with nature. While still a teenager, he met the man that would shape his future: his art teacher Calum Cameron. Stace became a resident artist at Cal’s own Gallery North, and Cameron was his full-time manager. By 1992 Stace had advanced to the British Columbia Festival of the Arts, held many shows at Gallery North, and galleries throughout the Peace River area.

Stace arrived in Whitehorse, June of 1999, after joining a group of young world-travelers from Germany. He believes it was their love of the Yukon, and zest for life, that convinced him to stay and begin anew. Through these friends he would meet the love of his life: Amanda. Born in Fredericton New Brunswick, and having travelled the country, she came see the Yukon. After one magical year, she met her reason to stay. They were married two years later, on a frosty autumn afternoon at Inn on the Lake, and have two wonderful dogs. “Together we have discovered who we are, and the dreams we desire to achieve in our lives”.

“The North has given me a new inspiration, and I have experienced the freedom to allow growth and expansion.” Since settling in Whitehorse, Stace has discovered photography, metal sculpture, stone carving, drum-making, and jewellery design. “Through my art I have found myself, my identity.” Though he began his career with a minimalist style of pen and ink, he has since come to add plenty of bold color and intricate designs. Stone carving became the medium that has re-connected Stace with his Cree heritage, and he finally feels free to give Cree names to his artwork. “I see my stone and metal pieces as the tangible version of my inkwork, and I’m able to convey so much more of the story”. Stace credits his successful stone debut in part to the encouragement of his friends James Kirby, and Bud Young.

Stace also desires to speak and challenge through his photography, and forces the viewer to pause and “figure it out”. “I love that confused yet amused expression on people’s faces”. Although he favors a monochromatic view of nature, he holds nothing back in his digital creations. “The camera captures a completely different world than our eye sees, and I’m exploring things I would not have otherwise.” Stace and Amanda have captured the beauty of dance performance, and the microscopic side of nature, and intend to further broaden their horizon.

Stace and Amanda are determined entrepreneurs, and are proudly self-taught, produced, and promoted. They are continuously advancing their knowledge, and are now using their skills to help other artists achieve their goals. The Pshyks are members of the Yukon Arts Society and, have been a part of the Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative. The Yukon Gallery has been an important partner in Stace’s career in the Yukon, and the host of his first solo exhibition here. Stace and Amanda have a unique relationship and form of collaborating, often fusing mediums in surprising ways. Privileged to live in many different cultures, her experiences are shared through Stace’s art. She is also a digital photographer, jeweller, their printmaker, marketing and sales manager.

“I am so blessed to be making my living with my imagination, and sharing my life with someone who desires the same.
We are thankful for our God-given gifts, and intend to live our dreams and experience all the world has to offer”.

ShyArts @ Live . ca

Freedom – a state of being, an achievement, a way of life.

It was art that gave me back my life. For years, my work seemed unaffected by the world around me, that I created purely from imagination. I have now come to realize how my subject and concept reflect my personal experiences, and subconscious feelings. Many who see my artwork are moved, and have very personal interpretations of meaning. But it was not until I decided to finally mount a solo exhibition that I actually allowed my art to speak to me.
I was confronted by my struggle with identity, and the absence of freedom in my life. The images whispered to me of my history, my journey, and my beliefs. I discovered that I had become a new person, and the transformation was all there for me to see. I embraced my individuality, and rejected the need to conform. I decided to carve my own path through life, and my art would be the instrument. I have found the courage to be Métis, to change my life, and follow my dreams.

I have given the name FREEDOM to this show because without freedom, it would not have come to fruition. The colors, the concepts, the designs: it is all the fruit of my new beginning.

I communicate to people through my artwork. I share my stories, show how I see the world, and voice my perspective on the best things in life. My creative process is very intense and fluid. It can be brought on by the smallest of influences, like a late night walk, or by a powerful and vivid dream. One of the things that sets me apart from most artists, is the fact that my concept and design come from within, and are not representative of reality. I see no boundaries between the physical and spiritual, and I don’t force meaning onto my art. I allow and encourage people to experience my art in a way unique to themselves.

Freedom Opens for Stace Pshyk (December 18, 2008)


It’s seldom that the Yukon Gallery clears its walls to feature one artist. Solo shows haven’t been the focus of the commercial gallery and frame shop. But gallery owner Brenda Stehelin has made space for Stace Pshyk’s work to take center stage.

(photo caption)(In “One Month Old”, the protective herd is stylized into three racks of antlers.)

Pshyk’s show, Freedom, marks his first solo show in the territory, though his work has been seen at the Yukon Gallery as well as the Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery and Arts Underground for four years.
Pshyk’s style is reminiscent of Benjamin Chee Chee, an artist of Ojibwa descent. You would recognize Chee Chee’s well-known birds, often depicted in relation to each other, with that relationship being the subject of the piece, Learning, or Friends, for example.
Chee Chee took the tradition of the Woodlands School of First Nations art to a more graphic place, influenced by the minimalism of modern art. Mitt Stehelin, who works at the Yukon Gallery, sees Pshyk as involved in the same project.

“He’s made the jump between native art and modern art more effectively than most,” says Stehelin, observing that Pshyk’s embrace of his Métis ancestry makes this style of painting particularly fitting.
Images of aspens and falling aspen leaves mingle with figures in parkas, caribou and birds. Pshyk creates his drawings of fine inked lines with tracery or filled areas of paint or coloured pencil on paper.
At their most successful, these suggestions evoke animals and feeling more effectively for the empty white space. His lynx has no eyes or nose. This makes the pointy ears that much more recognizable.
Paw prints in circles also figure in his works, in one piece becoming almost fractal. Different scales of paw prints are embedded into shapes repeated at different scales.

Words are incorporated into the designs written in Cree using the syllabary used by several First Nations languages including Inuktitut and Ojibwa. I assume that they are the titles. At the show, the title in English was written on a sticker attached to the frame.
The Yukon Gallery used multiple layers of coloured mat boards, some cut in curves on their computerized mat cutter, and metallic toned frames to present this work.
Printed handouts on the Cree Syllabarium and The Hunter’s World accompanies the show, as well as a tri-fold artist statement. The Hunter’s World discusses a Cree spirituality of hunting and the “wind people” who relate the divine and material worlds.

The creation and presentation of this show has been an intensely personal process of Pshyk: “I finally allowed my artwork to speak to me. The images whispered to me of my history, my journey and my beliefs. I discovered that I have become a new person, and the transformation was all here for me to see.”
Pshyk moved to Whitehorse in 1999 from Dawson Creek. He worked as a bridge welder for BC Rail there. He’s done welding and Zamboni driving since coming to the Yukon, doing a little bit of everything to support his artwork.

(photo caption)(Birds and aspen leaves figure largely in Stace Pshyk's work.)

Pshyk started showing his work at the tender age of 19 years, encouraged by his art teacher from high school. Calum Cameron ran Gallery North in Moberly Lake. He mentored Pshyk.
In 1992, Pshyk’s first big showing of artwork led to his taking part in the BC Festival of the Arts, a province-wide juried exhibition of British Columbian Artists.
When mounting a solo show one hopes for sales, of course, but the event itself is an important promotional tool in an artist’s career.

Pshyk is thrilled that the show has led to getting back in touch with Cameron. He and his wife created an event on Facebook, and Cameron found him. Only thing is, Cameron’s in Mexico now, running an art school and gallery called the Galleria Del Sol near Peurto Vallarta.

This spring, the Pshyk pair will leave in mid-May to tour art festivals, tracking across BC and Alberta, and hopefully taking part in some in Ontario. They plan to wrap up their cross-country tour at the Montréal International Art Expo in October and then travel down to Mexico for November’s cooler weather.
In the meantime, Cameron will start manufacturing Pshyk’s reproductions. Pshyk also wants to start moving into larger canvas pieces and “there’s no one better to teach me that than Cal.”
So the pair will leave their Squatter’s Row housesit this spring for a long junket, and they’re hoping to get to Europe after Mexico.

“We’ll be severely homesick by the time we’re done,” muses Amanda Pshyk. The pair began an A-frame cabin this summer at Canyon Creek. It’s still only an exoskeleton and will likely be squirrel inhabited by the time they come back, but it will give them a feeling of home to come back to.

A small display of Amanda’s jewellery accompanied the Yukon Gallery show. She finds she cannot live without Swarovski crystal, gemstones, Flame-work and Czech fire-polish glass or silver and enameled wire. She free-form sculpts them into her adornments.
As Christmas approaches, other artists’ work will move into the cleared space for the Pshyk show. Nevertheless, you should still be able to see many pieces from the show right up until the winter holidays and maybe beyond.

The Yukon Gallery shares its space with its sister company, Summit Awards, on 2nd Avenue across from the library. It’s open 10 to 6, Monday to Friday, and 10 to 5 on Saturdays.
You can see more of Stace's and Amanda's work at . Some of Calum Cameron's work is shown at calumc.
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The Contemporary Cree Hunting Culture
Cree Hunting Culture and Knowledge
An early ethnographer of the Eastern Subarctic, Frank G. Speck, called Indian hunting a "religious occupation." Several recent ethnographers have called it a culturally distinct science, an "ethnoscience." How can we understand Cree hunting, a way of life whose destruction would cause not only an economic and social crisis but a cultural and moral crisis as well? To answer such questions we must try to understand what meanings hunting has for the hunters themselves.

We can develop an understanding of how the James Bay Cree think about hunting and about themselves and their world by considering the different meanings conveyed by the Cree word for hunting. We will find that their concept of hunting is very different from the everyday understandings common in our own culture. However odd the Cree conception may appear to be at first, we will find that it not only has logic when understood in the context of Cree thought and action, but also that it has important affinities with the recent discoveries of ecological scientists working within our own culture. These analogies may help us to better understand Cree thought, although they will not make the Cree out to be scientists or transform scientists into effiective hunters.


ANIMAL GIFTS
Nitao, the root of the Cree term that is roughly translated into English as "hunting, fishing, and trapping in the bush," is found in a series of words related to hunting activities. At least five basic meanings are associated with this root term for hunting: to see something or to look at something; to go to get or to fetch something; to need something; to want something; and to grow or continue to grow.

That hunting should be thought of as a process of looking or seeking is apparent to us as well as to the Cree. Hunting is typically a process of seeing signs of the presence of animals - tracks, spoor, feeding or living areas - and of then seeking to encounter the animals and to kill them. The proposition that hunting is "looking" emphasizes the uncertainty involved. The Cree view is that most animals are shy, retiring, and not easily visible, and hunting therefore involves an expectation as well as an activity. The hunter goes through a process of finding indications of possible encounters with animals; if the hunt is successful he fulfils his anticipation. We will see below how this anticipation plays a role in Cree thinking.

That a successful hunt should also be conceptualized as getting or fetching animals is also apparent, but part of what the Cree mean by this is different from what we would assume. To get an animal in the Cree view does not mean to encounter it by chance, but to receive the animal. The animal is given to the hunter. A successful hunt is not simply the result of the intention and work of the hunter; it is also the outcome of the intention and actions of the animals. In the process of hunting a hunter enters into a reciprocal relationship: animals are given to hunters to meet their needs and wants, and in return the hunters incur obligations to the animals. Thus the Cree conception of hunting involves a complex and moral relationship in which the outcome of the hunt is a result of the mutual efforts of the hunter and the environment. This is a subtle and accurate ecological perspective. It may seem odd that animal kills should be conceptualized as gifts, and it is important therefore to note that Cree do not radically separate the concepts of "human" and "animals." In their everyday experience in the bush they continually observe examples of the intelligence and will power of animals. They express this by saying that animals are "like persons"; they act as if they are capable of independent action, and they are causally responsible for things they do.

For the Cree this is an everyday observation. Evidence of intelligence is cited from several sources. One type is that each animal has its own way of living or, as is sometimes said, its own way of thinking. Each responds to environmental circumstances in ways that human beings can recognize as logically appropriate. Each has its own preparations for winter: beavers build complex lodges; bears, dens; ducks and geese migrate. Each also relates to, and communicates with, members of its species. For example, beavers establish three-generational colonies built around a monogamous couple. Geese mate for life and have complex patterns of flock leadership. And inter-species communication is indicated by the intelligent response of animals to the efforts of the hunters themselves. Some beaver will place mud on top of a trap and then eat the poplar branches left as lure and a gift by the hunter. Hunters say their techniques have to depend on how fast an animal thinks. Each animal has special mental characteristics: beaver are stubborn and persistent, bear are intelligent, wolves are fearless, grouse are stupid. Further, animals have emotions and may be "scared" or "mad" when they avoid hunters.

That animals give themselves is indicated in part by their typical reactions to hunters. When a bear den is found in winter, a hunter will address the bear and tell it to come out. And bears do awake, come out of their dens sluggishly, and get killed. That such a powerful, intelligent, and potentially dangerous animal can be so docile is significant for the Cree. The behaviour of moose is also significant. Moose bed down facing into the wind, so that air does not penetrate under their hair. When a hunter approaches from down wind, he comes upon it from behind. A moose typically takes flight only after scenting or seeing a source of danger. It therefore rises up when it hears a hunter approach and turns in the direction of the noise to locate and scent the source. In this gesture, taking ten to fifteen seconds, the moose gives itself to the hunter by turning and looking at him.

The extensive knowledge Cree have of animals becomes, therefore, a basis for their understanding that animals are given. The concept of an animal gift indicates that killing an animal is not solely the result of the knowledge, will, and action of humans, however necessary these are, but that the most important reasons for the gift lie in the relationships of the givers and the receivers. Because animals are capable of intelligent thought and social action, it is not only possible for them to understand human beings, but for humans to understand animals. The actions of animals are events of communication that convey information about intentions. Saying that the animals are gifts therefore emphasizes that the hunter must adapt his hunt to what he learns from and knows about the animals. To see how this works we must examine the Cree world.


THE HUNTER'S WORLD
Because animals are gifts, it is appropriate to ask "Who gives the animal?" and the answer to this question leads us to important features of Cree logic and cosmology. Recurrent answers are that animals do not only give themselves, they are given by the "wind persons" and by God or Jesus.

Just as animals are like persons, so, too, are phenomena that we do not consider to be living. Active phenomena such as winds, water, as well as God and various spirit beings, are all considered to be like persons or to be associated with personal beings. And because all sources of action are like persons, the explanations of the causes of events and happenings are not in terms of impersonal forces, but in terms of the actions of one or more persons. Explanations refer to a "who" that is active, rather than to a "what" (Hallowell, 1955; Black, 1967). The world is therefore volitional, and the perceived regularities of the world are not those of natural law but rather like the habitual behaviour of persons. It is therefore possible to know what will happen before it does occur, because it is habitual. But there is also a fundamental unpredictability in the world as well: habits make action likely, not certain. This capriciousness is also a result of the diversity of persons, because many phenomena must act in concert for events to occur. The world of personal action is therefore a world neither of mechanistic determination nor of random chance: it is a world of intelligent order, but a very complex order, and one not always knowable by men. The Cree world of complex interrelationships is analogous to that of some ecological scientists, although the scientists use an organic rather than a personal metaphor.

For the Cree, the relationship of the wind persons to animal gifts is constantly confirmed by everyday experience. The wind persons bring cold or warmth and snow or rain, and with the coming and going of predominant winds the seasons change. They are responsible for the variable wealher conditions to which animals and hunters each respond. The bear hibernates and is docile only in winter when the north wind is predominant. The geese and ducks arrive with the increasing frequency of the south wind and leave with its departure. In a myriad of other ways, the animals and hunters, and the success ol the hunt, depend in part on the conditions brought by the winds.

Each of the four wind persons resides at one of the four points of the compass, and each has specific personal characteristics related to particular seasons, weather and animal patterns, hunting conditions, and success. When a hunter is asked by young men and women who have been away to school why he says that the animals are given by the winds, he often answers that they must come and live in the bush to see for themselves. It is demonstrated in the daily and yearly experience of the hunters, and it can be shared with anyone who will spend enough time in the bush.

Parallel discoveries of the relationships of animals, weather, and hunting can be found in hunting lore in our own society. But whereas this knowledge plays a role in our culture of hunting, scientists have devoted limited research effort to it. By contrast, such relationships are centrally important in Cree hunting practice, and they are encoded and highlighted by Cree concepts and in what we might call their science of hunting.

The concepts of the wind persons mediate and link several series of ideas that serve to order the Cree world in space and time. The wind persons are said to live at the four corners of the earth, thereby orienting space on a four-point compass. The wind persons also link God to the world. They are part of the world "up there," but they affect the earth down here. They thus link the spirits and God who are up there to the men and animals who live their lives on the earth.

"God" and Jesus are the ultimate explanation for all that happens on this earth, but He2 also gives all the personal beings of the world intelligence and will in order to follow His Way, or abandon it. God alone gives and takes life, but beings are ultimately responsible for their actions. God therefore plays a key part in the gift of animals to hunters, but only a part. He is the leader of all things, and He is assisted by the wind persons and a hierarchy of leaders extending to most spirits, animals, and humans. The idea of leadership is persuasive in the Waswanipi world, and the hierarchy of leaders is spoken of as one of power. Hunting therefore depends not only on the hunter and the animals, but on an integrated chain of leaders and helpers acting together to give and to receive animals.

In this chain, human beings fit somewhere in the middle range, closely linked to those both above and below them. Human beings are mutually dependent on animals, who are generally less powerful than humans, and on spirit beings, who are generally more powerful. But the linkages are close and the positions flexible. As Cree myths indicate, some of the less powerful spirit beings were formerly human beings who have been transformed into spirits. Animals themselves used to be "like us," and in the "long ago" time of the legends they could talk with one another and with humans.


THE POWER OF HUNTING
The power of God and humans is manifest in the relationship between thought and happenings in the world. What God thinks or knows happens; His thought is one with happenings and thus He is all powerful. Spirit beings participate in this power to a lesser degree; they know only some of what will happen in the future or at a distance. Their thought and happenings frequently coincide. God and spirit beings may give their powerful knowledge to humans in dreams and in thoughts, and by signs in the world, but they never tell all that humans would like to know. People can often be said to "discover" their understandings rather than create them; and thought or insight may "come to us" as a gift from God and spirits, in waking thought or in dreams. Thinking and prayer may be one. The knowledge that spirits give anticipates the future with some real - but always unknown - degree of certainty.

Humans not only differ from animals by the degree of power they receive, but also from each other. Powerful and effective knowledge increases with age and with the care and attention individuals give to interpreting and cultivating their communications with God and spirit beings. These differences in power and wisdom are reflected in the patterns of leadership within human communities.

The meaning of power in the Cree perspective, therefore, differs in important ways from our own. We typically think of power as the ability to control others and/or the world. For the Cree it is more complex. Human knowledge is always incomplete, and there is often a gap between what humans think and what actually happens. In hunting, for example, a hunter will frequently dream of an animal he will be given before he begins to look for it. He may then go out hunting and find signs of that animal that confirm his expectation. When the things he thinks about actually come to be, when he is given the animal, that is an indicator of power. But humans never find that all they anticipate comes to be. The power is a coincidence between an internal state of being (thought) and the configuration of the world (event), a congruence anticipated by the inner state and that this anticipation helps to actualize. Both the thought and the event are social processes. Power is not an individual possession, it is a gift, and a person cannot in this view bring his thought to actuality by individually manipulating the world to conform to his desires. And, at each phase of happenings in the world, humans, spirit beings, and other beings must sensitively interpret and respond to the communications and actions of the other beings around them. "Power" is a relationship in thought and action among many beings, whereby potentiality becomes actuality. Hunting is an occasion of power in this sense, and the expression of this is that animals are gifts, with many givers. Power in this Cree sense may have analogies to our concept of truth, i.e., thought that comes to be. We might say that power is truth unfolding, rather than that power is control.

This complex understanding of hunting links intimately with basic Cree attitudes toward human life itself. The symbols conveying Cree concepts of hunting also order the Cree understanding of the life and death of animals and of the hunters themselves. The life and ultimate death of both the hunted and the hunters are as enigmatic for the Cree as they are for us. That humans should have to kill animals to feed themselves and their families in order to live and that humans themselves all die are fundamentally mysterious features of life. Both animals and humans participate in the mystery of death, and Cree symbols of hunting elaborate the mystery and bring the wonder of life and death into the world of everyday meanings.

The hunt is conceptualized as an ever-changing cycle at many levels. If a hunter is successful he will bring game back to his camp. Having received a gift, the hunter is under obligation to respect that gift by reciprocating with gifts of his own. These gifts go partly to other Cree, as most large kills are shared with kinsmen, neighbours, or with the community. By giving meat to others they are said to find more animal gifts themselves in return. The hunter also reciprocates to the spirits who have participated in the hunt, often by placing a small portion of the meat into the stove at the first meal of each day, so the smoke of the gift can go up the stove pipe as a sign of appreciation and respect to the spirits "up there." This return offering is part of an ongoing relationship of reciprocity: it not only expresses respect and repays an obligation, it continues the exchange as a statement of anticipation that the hunter will again receive what he wants when he is again in need. Many Cree rituals follow a similar structure.

Hunting is conceptualized as an ongoing process involving a delicate and ever-changing balance. When bad luck occurs, hunters turn their attention to other species, or they hunt in another area until the animals are ready to be caught again. If animals want to be caught and are not hunted, they have fewer young and more easily succumb to diseases or predation. Thus, proper hunting can lead to increases in the numbers and health of the animals. However, if a hunter kills animals that are not given, if he overhunts, then the spirits of that species will be "mad," and the hunter will have no luck. Thus, in hunting, the life and death of animals form a delicate reciprocal process.

The alteration in hunting luck brings us to the last of those meanings of the word ''hunting.'' Hunters say that when they decrease their hunting they do so in order that the animals may cease being mad and may grow again. Hunting involves a reciprocal obligation for hunters to provide the conditions in which animals can grow and survive on the earth. The fullilment of this responsibility provides the main criterion by which hunters judge one another. In everyday conversation people speak extensively about the reputations and actions of other hunters. What is emphasized is hunting competence (Preston, 1975). A hunter who masters a difficult skill and through his ties with spirits receives hard-to-get gifts exhibits his competence and participates in power. Men and women who are respected for their exceptional competence are contrasted with those who take chances, who fool around with animals by not killing them cleanly, and who seek self-aggrandizement by large kills or wasting animals. The hunters who consistently have good luck but not excessive harvests also demonstrate competence because they maintain that delicate balance with the world in which animals die and are reborn in health and in continuing growth.

This image of the competent hunter serves also as a goal of the good life. The aims of both hunting and of life are, in part, to maintain a continuing sensitivity to and a balanced participation with the world, in which humans and animals reciprocally contribute to the survival of the other. The aim of life is the perpetuation of an ordered, meaningful, and bountiful world. This aim includes those now alive and those yet to be born. The social universe thus extends beyond the human world, beyond the temporal frame of an individual human lif

The Cree syllabary was invented by James Evans and has been used ever since by the Cree, Inuktitut, Oji-Cree, Ojibway and many other First Nations of Canada. Evans' writing system was invented some time between 1837 and 1841. In 1837 Evans took his Ojibway Speller and Interpreter in Indian and English to New York City to be printed.
Evans' was using a time honoured and popular method of writing when he used hyphens to mark off each syllable, and arranged the syllables in tables to teach literacy in his speller of 1837. However, in 1841 he presents a system of syllables written with completely novel glyphs or character shapes.

In 1841 this copy of the Cree Hymnbook was printed from Evans' own press in Rossville, Manitoba. Sometime between 1837 and 1841 Evans was inspired to represent the syllables with a distinctive set of symbols.

Stace Pshyk's stone and metal sculpture "Growing Illusion" was part of the Yukon Arts Society's group exhibition "ROOTS", showing at the Yukon Arts Centre Gallery, in Whitehorse, Yukon, from May through August, 2008.

Some people feel something is missing when they’re in complete solitude. But walking into the lunchtime silence of the Yukon Arts Centre Public Art Gallery felt comforting and soothing compared to the bustle of downtown Main Street.

And even though I might have been the only person in the expansive space, I was still in good company. The minds and hearts of almost two dozen of the Yukon’s most treasured artists surrounded me in the Yukon Art Society show simply titled, Roots.

As Sandra Storey writes in her curatorial statement: “This exhibition has an energy that speaks with colour of the adventure that comes from taking risks.

“Artists have worked with varied mediums to create ideas and abstractions, and there is a sense of humour that appears with unique interpretations of the Roots theme.”

The exhibition leads its visitors through an intriguing collection of not only what these artists are made of, but of a vast use of what the art world has to offer – employing both traditional and creative treatments.

“Selecting the work for Roots was not a difficult process,” writes Storey.

“I want the show to reflect the incredible growth and diversity of our Yukon artists as well as a less predictable approach to expressing ideas around a theme.”

Some works appear to blatantly integrate the exhibition’s premise.

Lara Melnik’s polymer clay piece, Stop and Smell the Daisies, not only shows the underground from which her trademark flowers bloom, but also combines placer gold that reaches to the roots of the Yukon’s industrial history.

Four fused glass sections delicately dangle from strings showcasing Jeanine Baker's use of colour and abstract shapes and lines in Best Wishes.

Daphne Mennell’s acrylic work, Red Root, is a deep, dark, large-scale exploration into environment as the trees mesh with the waterfall that attempts to separate them.

And Nicole Bauberger’s acrylic large-scale, Home, brings a sense of nature to the intimate embrace of lovers through the addition of soft white roots stretching away from the couple’s toes.

While the remaining works that span the gallery do not make such an obvious connection to the theme, there is a notable element of their organic interpretations.

Carver Justin Smith has two pieces that showcase the intricate detail he achieves when working with natural materials such as birch and cedar. Smith’s piece, Untitled Mask, and paddle titled, Between Two Worlds, also provide a glimpse into the artist’s aboriginal culture.

“These informed and passionate artists do not turn away from the past, but honour what has been before, while embracing the reality of the present and moving into the future with confidence,” Storey writes.

“They do so with an open mind and with the knowledge that there is no end to the products of human creativity when it is nurtured, shared and allowed critical dialogue.”

Paul Baker’s welded sculpture, Autto, stands tall in a corner of the exhibition. The structure is made up of long-forgotten parts from springs, to gears and rusted chains. The created figure clutches an Old Style Beer can, while donning mirrored glasses and matching silver baseball hat.

And just as I’m finishing my once-around of the space, I stop to gaze at Jeanine Baker’s four-piece fused glass, Best Wishes. The work is perfectly hanging in mid-air. I take the time to examine it from every angle and spot new geometrical shapes hidden amongst its many layers.

Screaming with bright colours, it resembles the chaotic beauty of a painter’s studio floor, riddled with globs and lines of brilliant paint.

Before exiting, I turn back to glance at Roots in its entirety. The exhibit is quite literally filled with splashes of colour juxtaposed with warm, earthy contributions.

Perhaps Storey says it best when she writes, it “demonstrates an exciting approach that reaches beyond the traditional landscape art that may have previously been considered “Yukonnais.”

Roots is on display at the Yukon Arts Centre Public Art Gallery until August 24.

Selected Exhibitions ( * indicates demonstration)

2010 “Living City” Photographic Exhibition, Canada Pavillion, World Expo 2010. Curated by Cirque Du Soleil.

05/2010 Solo Exhibition, Copper Moon Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.

08/2009 Demonstrating Artist, Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, Yukon.

06/2009 ‘Art Taster’ Demonstration & Workshop for National Aboriginal Celebration, Copper Moon Gallery, Whitehorse.

12/2009 “Body of Blue”, Solo Photographic Exhibition, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse.

04/2009 “Blue Vanity”, Solo Photographic-Art Exhibition for the Guild Hall Society’s presentation of ‘Cabaret’. Whitehorse.

04/2009 Yukon Wildlife Exhibition, Group Show for Yukon Biodiversity Month, Marsh Lake Center, Yukon.

12/2008 “Freedom”, Solo Ink Painting Exhibition at Yukon Gallery, Whitehorse.

08/2008 * Metal Sculpture Installation, Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, Yukon.

05/2008 “Roots”, Yukon Art Society Group Show at the Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse.

2007 Governor General’s Northern Cultural Visit, Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative Special Showing & Reception, YA@W Gallery, Whitehorse.

“Idea of the North”, Yukon Art Society Show for the Canada Winter Games, Arts Underground Gallery, Whitehorse.

Yukon Art Society Summer & Christmas Members Show, Arts Underground Gallery & Zola’s Café Doré, Whitehorse.

* Ink Painting & Stone Carving, Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, Yukon.

* “Ink and Stone - Demo on the Deck”, (demonstration) Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative Gallery, Whitehorse.

2006 “A Sense Of Place”, Annual “Points of View” Show/Competition, Arts Underground Gallery, Whitehorse.

1991-93 Resident Artist, Gallery North, Chetwynd, British Columbia, CAN.

1992 British Columbia Festival of the Arts, Juried Provincial Art Competition, British Columbia





Education

1990-1993 Mentorship with Calum Cameron: Artist and Teacher. Owner of Gallery North, Owner & Teacher at Galleria del Sol in Mexico


Selected Collections (*indicates private)

Mural: Chetwynd Secondary School, BC, CAN.

*Calum Cameron, Painter & Teacher, Owner of Galleria del Sol, Mexico.

*Leslie Chapman, Goldsmith, Owner of Forty Mile Gold & Northern Fine Art, Dawson City, Yukon.

*Steven Stegall, Graphite Artist & Carver, Owner of A Gathering of Spirits Gallery, Skagway, Alaska, USA.

* Richard Shorty, First Nations Traditional Artist, Yukon/British Columbia, Canada.

* Harreson Tanner, Ceramic Sculptor, Chair of Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative, Whitehorse, Yukon.

* Coreen Wells, Professional Middle-Eastern Dance Performer & Saba Dancer, Owner of Wines by Design, Whitehorse, Yukon.

* Linda Reeves, Singer, Whitehorse, Yukon.

* Sandra Grace Storey, Ceramic Sculptor, Curator of Yukon Art Society at Arts Underground Gallery and Zola’s Café Doré , Whitehorse, Yukon.

* Carole LaCroix Rogers, Whitehorse, Yukon.


Selected Commissions

Paintings:

Ink Painting for the ‘Swan Haven’ 2009 T-shirts, Swan Haven & Trumpeter Swan Societies, Yukon.

“The History of Our People”, Moberly Lake Native Band, Moberly Lake, BC.

Digital Photography / Film ( * indicates with Amanda Pshyk)

2008 *Artwork photography, Sandra Grace Storey, Ceramic Sculptor, Curator at Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT.

* Burning Away the Winter Blues, 10th Annual Spring Equinox Celebration, Archival Photography and Film, Whitehorse, Yukon.

2007 * Under A Cairo Moon, SABA Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble Annual Performance, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon.

JOICO Fantasy Hair Show (Autumn), Live Photo Shoot, Salon Centre Yukon & JOICO Canadian Artistic
Design Team.


Visiting Artist Lectures

2005 “Lasting Impact of A Great Teacher, Testimonial of how my Art Teacher changed my life”.
University of New Brunswick, Teaching Department, Arts Sector, Fredericton, New Brunswick, CAN.


Gallery Representation

Copper Moon Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Curator: Harreson Tanner.

Yukon Art Society Arts Underground Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Curator: Sandra Grace Storey

Yukon Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Owner/Curator: Brenda Stehelin



Affiliations

Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, Yukon, CAN.

Dawson City Art Society (Klondike Institute of Art & Culture), Yukon, CAN.

Yukon Artists @ Work, Board Member (2006-2007)

Burning Away the Winter Blues Society

A Singular Creation Art Community (virtual), North America.

Wet Canvas Artist Community (virtual), International.

CARFAC, Canadian Artist’s Representation.

Selected Exhibitions ( * indicates photography)

10/2009 * “Illuminated Passion” Solo Photographic Exhibition of Dance Performance Art.

08/2009 Demonstrating Artist, Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, Yukon.

01/2008 * Galla Reception for Nita Collins of Celebrations Belly Dance & SABA, Arts Underground Gallery

2007 * Governor General’s Northern Cultural Visit, Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative Special Showing & Reception, YA@W Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.

Demonstrating Artist, Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, Yukon.

*Brave New Works - Performance Photography Juried Group Show, Arts Underground Gallery (Yukon Art Society), Whitehorse, Yukon


Publications
Photograph for ‘Burning Away the Winter Blues’ 2009 Poster

‘Arts Net Magazine 2008-2009 Season’, Photograph for ‘Burning Away the Winter Blues’.


Selected Collections (*indicates photography)

* Coreen Wells, Professional Middle-Eastern Dance Performer & Saba Dancer, Owner of Wines by Design, Whitehorse, Yukon.

*Nita Collins, Owner & Teacher of Celebrations Belly Dance – Middle-Eastern & Oriental Dance, SABA Dance Ensemble.


Selected Commissions
Digital Photography / Film ( * indicates with Stacy Pshyk)

2008 *Artwork photography, art show booklet for Sandra Grace Storey, Ceramic Sculptor, Curator of Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, Yukon.

* Burning Away the Winter Blues, 10th Annual Spring Equinox Celebration, Archival Photography and Film, Whitehorse, Yukon.
2007 * Under A Cairo Moon, SABA Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble Annual Performance, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon.


Gallery Representation

Copper Moon Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Curator: Harreson Tanner.

Arts Underground Gallery, Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Curator: Sandra Grace Storey


Affiliations

Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, Yukon, CAN.

Dawson City Art Society (Klondike Institute of Art & Culture), Yukon, CAN.

A Singular Creation Art Community (virtual), North America.

Wet Canvas Artist Community (virtual), International.

CARFAC, Canadian Artist’s Representation.

International Guild of Wire Jewellery Artists

Passion … Expression … Adventure …

My life is a sensory environment. From a young age, I have immersed myself in the new, with exotic music, vibrant color, passionate movement, and expressive poetry.
The inspiration for my artwork is channeled from the intense way I experience my life. A sight, sound, fragrance, texture, or flavor, impacts my mind and thought process: I cannot help but create from these emotions and experiences. Of all the world around me, my favorites surely are light, water, foreign dance, electronic music, exotic teas and spices, and Indian fabrics. These elements are essential for my creative well being. I need to have a place to which I can retreat, somewhere I can disconnect from the world.
As a photographer, I desire to express my enjoyment of the subject, often a very biased perspective. I strive to change the way one will see things, after viewing my photographic-art, and encourage one to let the imagination free the senses. There are many facets to our world that our natural eye cannot see, and that is what I capture with my digital eye.
My jewellery satisfies a need to create with, and wear color. I create from my feeling and the energy of my mood. I want to give the bejeweled a sense of travelling to another place, channeling an emotion, and wearing the elements. I employ a free-form sculpting technique in fashioning my jewellery, and cannot live without Swarovski Crystal, Gemstones, Flame-work and Czech Fire-polish Glass, or silver and enameled wire.
The human body is capable of extraordinary expression, and is simply worthy of adornment.

Passion … Expression … Adventure …

My life is a sensory environment. From a young age, I have immersed myself in the new, with exotic music, vibrant color, passionate movement, and expressive poetry.
The inspiration for my artwork is channeled from the intense way I experience my life. A sight, sound, fragrance, texture, or flavor, impacts my mind and thought process: I cannot help but create from these emotions and experiences. Of all the world around me, my favorite delights surely are light, water, foreign dance, electronic music, exotic teas and spices, and Indian fabrics. These elements are essential for my creative well being. I need to have a place to which I can retreat, somewhere I can disconnect from the world.
As a photographer, I desire to express my enjoyment of the subject, often a very biased perspective. I strive to change the way one will see things, after viewing my photographic-art, and encourage one to let the imagination free the senses. There are many facets to our world that our natural eye cannot see, and that is what I capture with my digital eye.
My jewellery satisfies a need to create with, and wear color. I create from my feeling and the energy of my mood. I want to give the bejeweled a sense of traveling to another place, channeling an emotion, and wearing the elements. I employ a free-form sculpting technique in fashioning my jewellery, and cannot live without Swarovski Crystal, Gemstones, Flame-work and Czech Fire-polish Glass, or silver and enameled wire.
The human body is capable of extraordinary expression, and is simply worthy of adornment.

Freedom – a state of being, an achievement, a way of life.

It was art that gave me back my life. For years, my work seemed unaffected by the world around me, that I created purely from imagination. I have now come to realize how my subject and concept reflect my personal experiences, and subconscious feelings. Many who see my artwork are moved, and have very personal interpretations of meaning. But it was not until I decided to finally mount a solo exhibition that I actually allowed my art to speak to me.
I was confronted by my struggle with identity, and the absence of freedom in my life. The images whispered to me of my history, my journey, and my beliefs. I discovered that I had become a new person, and the transformation was all there for me to see. I embraced my individuality, and rejected the need to conform. I decided to carve my own path through life, and my art would be the instrument. I have found the courage to be Métis, to change my life, and follow my dreams.

I have given the name FREEDOM to this show because without freedom, it would not have come to fruition. The colors, the concepts, the designs: it is all the fruit of my new beginning.

I communicate to people through my artwork. I share my stories, show how I see the world, and voice my perspective on the best things in life. My creative process is very intense and fluid. It can be brought on by the smallest of influences, like a late night walk, or by a powerful and vivid dream. One of the things that sets me apart from most artists, is the fact that my concept and design come from within, and are not representative of reality. I see no boundaries between the physical and spiritual, and I don’t force meaning onto my art. I allow and encourage people to experience my art in a way unique to themselves.

Art's Imperative: In the Light of Isis
October 22, 2009

Illuminated Passion, by Amanda Pshyk, exposes its viewers to whirling swaths of light flaming across the stage in an elaborate dance.

The photos, exposed with a paintbrush-type filter, blur out a dancer’s face, showing us only the sensual shape of her performance. The digital photos displayed in Illuminated Passion are studies of passionate awareness, a drive to express and display strength and beauty.
Amanda Pshyk, a Yukoner of 11 years, takes digital photography to a ghostlike, ethereal realm in her upcoming show.

“I want to show how sensuality is not sexuality,” she says about the blurred images and shutter-exposed photos. The digital photos capture a belly-dancing performance, but not in the typical sense.

(Image/caption)

Belly dancing can be a form of restaurant entertainment for some, she tells me, but in reality it is an important cultural performance. “That is why anonymity for this show is preserved.
“It’s not about the lurid sexuality of the dancers, but rather the performance and communication aspect of this cultural dance,” Pshyk says. The distinction between sensual and sexual is an important one to Pshyk, and she seeks to preserve the sense of mystery in her art photography.
Her show features a photography shoot of a performance by Saba Middle Eastern Dance Company, Under a Cairo Moon, which was shot in the spring, a year and a half ago. She deliberately used an open shutter to capture the dancers in their most-expressive emotions and worked with the extra light to create sensual images.

Pshyk is no stranger to the art of professional dance: she has experimented with multidisciplinary art since she was a child growing up in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
“I seek to show what is real, but I also want to go beyond the ‘real’ to add depth to my images,” Pshyk says of her digital photography. Her artistry extends to handcrafted jewellery, as well, further displaying her need to explore with brightly coloured gems, stones and wire-spun pieces.
The unique, the delicate and the angelic are all displayed in her dance photography works, with titles such as The Light of Isis, to describe a glitter of costumes illuminated onstage. Pshyk admits to naming her pieces with purpose, describing it as a flash of inspiration.
“I name all my pieces. I meditate on what they should be called, and then it just hits me.” The title of the show, Illuminated Passion, speaks to Pshyk’s many interests – from exotic music, vibrant colour, passionate movement and expressive poetry.

The digital photos are also uniquely textured, adding dimension to simple photos. She uses a paint-style filter in her photos to add that texture as well as providing attendees to the show with a chance to feel a belly-dance costume, complete with jingling metal coins.
“It’s a multi-sense exhibit: I want viewers to be able to hear, feel and see what the dancing was like.”
Illuminated Passion runs until Oct. 30 at the Yukon Arts Centre Community Gallery.

index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1579:in-the-light-of-isis&catid=129:october-22-2009

Artist Biography

“Passionate ~ Expressive ~ Adventurous
I have found love, myself, and my dream”.

Amanda was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the granddaughter of a WWII Veteran and English War-Bride Painter on her father’s side, and Gospel Singers on her mother’s. Growing up, Amanda’s family moved every few years to a new culture. She enjoyed Danish pastry and crafts in New Denmark, and learned French in Grand-Falls. Living in the Dene village of Wrigley NWT, Amanda was privileged to learn Dene beading, tufting, and furs from community elders. It was here she first experienced the Aurora Borealis, smoked Caribou meat, a drum-dance, and a four-seater float-plane. Moving to Nunavut, on Broughton Island, the Inuit welcomed her into their culture. She learned Inuktitut, watched a master carver, experienced throat-singing, and listened to their stories.

“I discovered my love of music, dance, and visual art as a teenager, but never dreamed I would make my life in the arts”. Upon arriving in Whitehorse during the Klondike Gold Rush Centennial Celebration in June 1998, Amanda began the journey that she is still on today. “I met, fell in love, and married my husband and soul-mate Stace here: together we’ve found healing, who we really are, and how we want to enjoy our lives”. Her husband, Stace, is a professional artist, making his debut at the BC Festival of the Arts nearly 20 years ago. He is a pen-ink painter, metal sculptor, stone carver, and digital artist. They are both digital photographers and print-makers, and manage their own websites. Amanda and Stace also have fun with collaborations, unconventionally fusing many of their artforms and mediums.

Amanda has been beading for over 15 years, and enjoys everything from jewellery to clothing and accessories. She designs her wire & gem jewellery with a variety of materials such as Flamework-Glass, Swarovski Crystal, gemstones, pearls, and vintage pieces. “I use a free-form sculpting technique to fashion my jewellery, and I create from my feeling and the energy of my mood. I want to give the bejeweled a sense of traveling to another place, channeling an emotion, or wearing the elements.” Amanda and Stace are members of the Yukon Arts Society Arts Underground Gallery, have been a part of the Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative, and show in Copper Moon Gallery. Shy Arts is their entrepreneurial adventure, and keeps them very busy. The Pshyks are proudly self-taught/produced/promoted, and are excited to now be doing the same for other artists.

“Our inspiration comes from each other, culture, nature, and the passions of life. We are thankful for our God-given gifts, and intend to live our dreams and experience all the world has to offer.”

“Freedom – a state of being, an achievement, a way of life.”

Stace was born the great-grandson of a Cree Medicine Woman, in the Kootenays of British Columbia, to a Scottish-Cree mother and Ukrainian Father. Growing up in the mountains, he enjoyed the majestic landscape, but would soon discover he had a much more personal relationship with nature. While still a teenager, he met the man that would shape his future: his art teacher Calum Cameron. Stace became a resident artist at Cal’s own Gallery North, and Cameron was his full-time manager. By 1992 Stace had advanced to the British Columbia Festival of the Arts, held many shows at Gallery North, and galleries throughout the Peace River area.

Stace arrived in Whitehorse, June of 1999, after joining a group of young world-travelers from Germany. He believes it was their love of the Yukon, and zest for life, that convinced him to stay and begin anew. Through these friends he would meet the love of his life: Amanda. Born in Fredericton New Brunswick, and having travelled the country, she came see the Yukon. After one magical year, she met her reason to stay. They were married two years later, on a frosty autumn afternoon at Inn on the Lake, and have two wonderful dogs. “Together we have discovered who we are, and the dreams we desire to achieve in our lives”.

“The North has given me a new inspiration, and I have experienced the freedom to allow growth and expansion.” Since settling in Whitehorse, Stace has discovered photography, metal sculpture, stone carving, drum-making, and jewellery design. “Through my art I have found myself, my identity.” Though he began his career with a minimalist style of pen and ink, he has since come to add plenty of bold color and intricate designs. Stone carving became the medium that has re-connected Stace with his Cree heritage, and he finally feels free to give Cree names to his artwork. “I see my stone and metal pieces as the tangible version of my inkwork, and I’m able to convey so much more of the story”. Stace credits his successful stone debut in part to the encouragement of his friends James Kirby, and Bud Young.

Stace also desires to speak and challenge through his photography, and forces the viewer to pause and “figure it out”. “I love that confused yet amused expression on people’s faces”. Although he favors a monochromatic view of nature, he holds nothing back in his digital creations. “The camera captures a completely different world than our eye sees, and I’m exploring things I would not have otherwise.” Stace and Amanda have captured the beauty of dance performance, and the microscopic side of nature, and intend to further broaden their horizon.

Stace and Amanda are determined entrepreneurs, and are proudly self-taught, produced, and promoted. They are continuously advancing their knowledge, and are now using their skills to help other artists achieve their goals. The Pshyks are members of the Yukon Arts Society and, have been a part of the Yukon Artists @ Work Cooperative. The Yukon Gallery has been an important partner in Stace’s career in the Yukon, and the host of his first solo exhibition here. Stace and Amanda have a unique relationship and form of collaborating, often fusing mediums in surprising ways. Privileged to live in many different cultures, her experiences are shared through Stace’s art. She is also a digital photographer, jeweller, their printmaker, marketing and sales manager.

“I am so blessed to be making my living with my imagination, and sharing my life with someone who desires the same.
We are thankful for our God-given gifts, and intend to live our dreams and experience all the world has to offer”.

Stace (a) ShyArts . ca

Solo Photographic Show of dance performance-art, by Amanda Pshyk, in the Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon. Show runs from October 9th through October 30th 2009. Opening reception on Wednesday October 14th at 7pm.