History is kind of like a pile of debris, facts and images that present a different picture depending on the angle you see them from. Evin Collis’s perspective on Canadian history, identity, and nostalgia are all up for reconsideration through his darkly satirical work.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Collis studied at the Ontario Centre for Art & Design and is currently pursuing his MFA in Chicago. His latest solo exhibition is currently up at La Maison Des Artistes Visuels through Feb. 21. Commerce, Prudence, Industrie (Commerce, Prudence, Industry) is a collection of paintings and sculpture that investigate Canada’s colonial history.

“It’s an honour, and a privilege to be able to do it here at La Maison. A lot of this work has direct connections to where we are so I think that’s important,” Collis explains.

Walking through the gallery, Collis shares some of his thoughts about the pieces. In front of Homestead Pile, he explains his decision to feature these semi-chaotic central pile-ups. 

“For a while I was painting these sort of conglomerated piles of detritus,” Collis says. “I was thinking about the tumultuous history here, tumultuous history regarding the fur trade which was violent, which has kind of now been glazed over, in my personal opinion.”

Historical figures blend in with contemporary caricatures in works like Assiniboine Odyssey. In between describing the pieces, he drops in random historical facts, jumping back and forth between past and present but weaving it all together somehow.

“This work is kind of looking into and satirizing, exposing and investigating our colonial legacies that are still kind of ringing through in different subtleties and ways today,” Collis notes.

Other jobs he’s worked - an interpreter at Lower Fort Garry and a porter with Via Rail - have a significant influence on this exhibition. He’s clearly well-practiced in dancing around history, dropping little breadcrumbs for an audience to consider and then moving along to the next topic.

Though perhaps his artistic messages are a little more overt than in his past positions, Collis insists he’s still just putting ideas out there for people to interpret themselves.

“I based that composition on Michelangelo’s Pieta, which is like the Virgin and Jesus, but I just juxtaposed Jesus for Louis Riel and then I gave the Virgin a giant bison head,” Collis says, standing in front of Red River Pieta. “So I’m kind of thinking of how Louis Riel has come to be a martyr for Manitoba, and now we have Louis Riel day and he’s the founder of Manitoba, [...] whereas generations not very long ago he was a traitor, he was detested.”

While Collis insists that Canadian history and identity aren’t simple or easily described, he’s also not trying to dictate some new view for his audiences. If anything, he hopes that it might invite people to at least think a little.

“I’m not trying to change anyone necessarily, their perception or anything, I’m just showing these works and they’re expressing what I think about these topics, and historical events, and people can take what that is and consider it,” Collis explains. “I just want it to be art. Consider it.”

Published in Volume 69, Number 17 of The Uniter (January 21, 2015)