“Inconsistent Memory,” Andrea Mueller’s latest exhibit, is not just a trip down the artist’s personal memory lane. It’s also a reflection on the fact our recollections—precious though they can be—are also imperfect links to a past that shapes who we are. Sea to Sky art enthusiasts can catch the new showcase at the Maury Young Arts Centre until Jan. 27.
“You want people to look at your work and relate to it. That’s kind of the point of creating artwork, depending on your art form,” Mueller says. “The series is an exploration and a reconciliation of childhood memories from an adult perspective … while at the same time, recognizing that a lot of the people that helped create those memories have either passed or are on their way out.”
Family was a key source of inspiration for the exhibit. Mueller’s grandfather, in his late 90s, used watercolour crayons to fill out a 100-page sketchbook that his granddaughter gifted him as a way to alleviate boredom. The Ontario native was struck by the quirky depictions of wildlife, people, and fictitious beings she found in the book, and ideas began forming in her head.
Mueller makes a point to visit her grandparents’ farm each time she returns home. She’s always wanted to tell the story of that place and its people, for it was a cornerstone of her childhood summers and holidays. Although the farm remains, for the most part, a happy place for Mueller and her folks, she knew an authentic look at her past couldn’t be one-dimensional.
“I realized that I couldn’t call [the show] ‘Inconsistent Memory’ and only have super fun memories,” explains Mueller. “I revisited some that were not necessarily bad … but maybe I was a little bit afraid at that time, or maybe as a kid I didn’t really know what was going on.”
One such recollection involves one of the family’s old farm dogs having its way with garter snakes hatching in the summer. The collie would drag a snake out of the ditch and use it as a chew toy until it expired, then return to the writhing mass of reptiles for another. Mueller remembers being shocked by the sight as a young girl, and for some reason the image has stuck with her.
‘A whole different understanding’
All in all, Mueller found the process of revisiting and curating her childhood recollections to be quite cathartic.
“We remember bits and pieces of things, but when you go and actually talk to the people who were there for that memory—especially when they were adults and you were a child—it’s interesting to hear how they remember it, because it’s very different,” she says. “Even if you and your sibling experienced the same exact incident, they’ll remember certain aspects of it more vividly than you will.
“Then coming back to [a memory] yourself as an adult and listening to other adult perspectives, you can relate to [what happened] in ways you couldn’t before. You’re like: Oh, I have a whole different understanding of the way the world works, why you might have done that, why somebody might have felt a certain way.”
People change and remembrances change, but so too do the times. Mueller’s parents and most in their generation started families in their 20s, while many Sea to Sky folk in that age range are hitting the slopes by day and bars by night, with child-rearing far from their minds. In recognizing this, Mueller has gained respect for the pressures and demands in her parents’ and grandparents’ lives
One more thing “Inconsistent Memory” has done is help Mueller diversify her already-eclectic portfolio. Recently, she fielded a call from someone who identified her as “the artist who does the bears,” but Mueller knows she’s much more than that.
“I think you can get pigeonholed very easily, especially if you’re trying to do commercial work, and we’re all trying to get food for our kids so you have to make money somehow,” she says. “I think it’s nice to be able to remember that you’re not just ‘the bear artist’ and come up with a series that expresses more from a personal side. If somebody would like to buy something [from Inconsistent Memory], that’s fantastic, but I didn’t create any of that work with the mindset that it was for sale.”
Learn more about the exhibit at artswhistler.com/calendar-upcoming/andrea-mueller-inconsistent-memory.
