“Clearly there’s subterranean and there’s a celestial [iconography]. That divide. And in a way obviously he’s also informed by Western art at the same time, he was painting with acrylics. So he obviously had a real deep sense—I don’t know his training—but he had a real deep sense of compositional overlay. But also how iconography works, how allegory works and if you start really examining his work, there’s this kind of vibrancy at first but they also look microbial, like germs or something. There’s something which is… there’s a sickness in the environment. That he skilfully kind of expresses. This kind of torment.” — Carmen Robertson, excerpted from Norval Morrisseau: Life & Work
Art & Influence
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Norval Morrisseau, Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1980
Acrylic on canvas, 175 x 282 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.