Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Exhibition: Family Patterns

Family Patterns

Designed as a conversation between artists — their cultural rituals, family, and memory — Family Patterns understands motifs of home as ancestral and contemporary memory-keeping. Layering cultural and domestic references specific to both artists’ lives, Bernhardt and Fraser draw upon rhythms and patterns within speech, textiles, and their own community histories to express their identities and experiences through painting. From the Northern Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and the local African Nova Scotian communities of North Preston and Beechville, Bernhardt and Fraser explore storytelling and language as an act of decolonial memory preservation, ensuring their own histories are recorded, remembered, represented, and honoured.

Darcie “Ouiyaghasiak” Bernhardt is an Inuvialuk and Gwich’in artist from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, and is currently based in Halifax, Nova scotia.

Letitia Fraser is an interdisciplinary artist, with a focus in painting and textile arts. Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Fraser is a proud descendant of African Nova Scotian communities, North Preston and Beechville.

Visit the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s website to learn more about the artists and take a virtual tour of exhibitions Family Patterns and Tukien (Awaken).

Family Patterns Curated by: Aiden Gillis with Sarah Moore Fillmore
Exhibition Design by: Jody Burry
Supported by: Charles Anthony Law and Jane Shaw Law Charitable Trust