Name/Title
Yes, OK, Soul PowerEntry/Object ID
2023.02.01Description
Jan Wade (b. 1952, Hamilton, Ontario) is an African Canadian artist of both European and African American descent. Wade grew up close with her paternal grandmother and great-grandmother and was greatly influence by stories of Black culture in the Southern United States.
During her early 20s, Wade studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design (1972–76) and later moved to Vancouver in 1983, where she became enamored by the art, music, and spiritual of African diasporic communities living in the city.
Wade’s artistic practice draws on her earlier investigations into identity, race, and community and lived experience as an African Canadian woman of mixed heritage. Her works range from mixed media, sculpture, painting, and textile, and explore traditional beliefs and aesthetics alongside contemporary political issues such as racism, race-based violence, and trauma.
Using various materials and techniques, Wade demonstrates a persistent interest in following in the traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Yes, OK, Soul Power (2021) is made from repurposed found objects. Growing up, the artist's family was not wealthy. She remembers shopping at thrift stores and flea market, learning early the value of saving and reusing from her mother and grandmother. These scavenged objects are given new meaning and reflect the complex histories of the materials themselves. For example, buttons were often used by black communities to each to teach people to count. Wade sees each button in her work as individual representations of Africans brough through the slave trade.
The work was featured in the artist's first solo exhibition at the Vancouver art gallery (Jane Wade: Soul Power, 2021-2022).Artwork Details
Medium
paint, found objects, vesselDimensions
Height
10.16 cmDiameter
35.56 cm
