21 / 138
21
The inspiration for Elisabeth Bacque’s
most recent art series,
PioneerWomen
and Paper Patchwork
, may have begun
at Havergal when, in Grade 7 history
class, Elisabeth was asked to recreate
the diary of an English woman who
crossed the Atlantic in the early 19th
century to settle in the town of York.
Elisabeth’s earlier exhibitions
have included paintings of canoeing (featured at the
Mackenzie Gallery in Peterborough) and
Gardens and
Scarecrows
(at the Civic Garden Centre in Toronto).
This latest series, recently on display at the Huronia
Museum in Midland, is her favourite project.
Over several years, Elisabeth researched the lives
of 13 Canadian pioneer women from the 19th century,
among them European settlers such as Catharine Parr
Traill and Susanna Moodie, several fur traders’ wives,
a painter, a black newspaper editor, an Ojibwe activist
and a mapmaker. To convey their stories through art,
she used letters, diaries, maps, recipes, birch bark and
other materials arranged in patchwork-like collages
based on traditional quilt patterns. This unique
approach provides a visual experience in which the
viewer lives vicariously through these women, evoking
admiration for their struggles and achievements.
Elisabeth began her education at Havergal College
in the fall of 1944, just before the end of the Second
World War. Her mother Constance Blake Marani
1915 graduated from the old school on Jarvis Street.
An interest in art came naturally as her father, an
architect, encouraged her to sketch. Elisabeth went
on to study art and archaeology at the University
of Toronto and later worked at the
Stratford Festival, led tours at the
AGO and taught visual arts to North
York high school students. This work
was intertwined with raising four
children and creating her own pieces
to showcase at home or in intimate
galleries.
Elisabeth, her husband Jim and
their children grew up close to nature. During canoe
trips in Algonquin Park (their honeymoon) and in
northern Ontario and Quebec, and sojourns in the
south of France, the sounds, tastes, touch, sights
and smells of each locale inspired her many forms of
artwork. Whether it is a painting of her family, flowers,
a landscape, or even a scarecrow, each piece captures
and translates a moment’s experience onto canvas.
From her beginnings at Havergal, Elisabeth has
come full circle with
Pioneer Women and Paper
Patchwork
. Through the careful process of collecting
and interpreting relevant artifacts, she honours
strangers from another time in a way that makes them
seem familiar to many of us today. Within each piece,
one finds a personal connection along with inspiration
and gratitude.
As wemark our country’s 150th birthday, Elisabeth’s
art is a timely celebration of the brave women who
contributed to Canada’s foundation. Many Old Girls
may recall reading Maria Chapdelaine in French class
– the story of a French-Canadian woman in the days
of the coureurs du bois.
Pioneer Women and Paper
Patchwork
captures a similar theme in intricate and
beautiful detail.
Piecing together pioneer stories
ELISABETH MARANI BACQUE 1951
Profile by Stephanie Stronell 1995
PROFILES