Born in Ohsweken, Barbara Helen - Hill is from Six Nations of the Grand River. She graduated from the University of Buffalo and has been published in many anthologies. Hill is an artist as well as a writer.
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What moves you most in life, either to inspire or upset you?
I get upset at the abuse that one human can inflict on another on purpose and for the most part it is all for fear and greed. I let that go by walking in nature and observing the sky and the trees. That is what inspires me.
Where do you feel art is going?
In my world the government fully supports the arts and the artists. They see that the world is a better place with the arts and fully and freely give stipends and grants to the artists. Of course they also give money freely to the education system and the health care system and no one goes homeless or hungry. But I also believe in fairies, gnomes, elves, dragons and my hero is Beatrix Potter.
Art will never go away. We, the Iroquois or the other original people of this land never had a word for art but we always made art. We decorated clothing, pots and utensils, houses etc. It wasn’t called art but it was there. I do not see it going anywhere no matter what the government tries to do or not do.
What is the role of the artist in society?
The role of the artist in society is to give hope. Artists are needed to promote health and well-being. By that I mean that so many people are driving themselves to an early grave with their workaholism and their greed and need for more, more, more. Artists are there to give the person respite – when they take the time to look at the art, listen to the music, read the books and so on.
What is the place of your work in society?
My work is to bring laughter in some pieces and to bring joy in others. My work is to make people think and question themselves.
What technique do you use?
I started out as a writer and then went to painting using oils and then to water colours. I now do most of my work using mixed media – fabric, paint, clay, beads, wire – anything actually. I made wall hangings but I put “dolls” or figurative art pieces on the wall hangings. I then started to make the free standing art figures. I just enjoy creating and am willing to learn most all techniques. There are a few exceptions for now. I really admire and appreciate the glass work but am not into learning that “yet”. I also admire the gourd work but unless someone else is willing to clean the gourds for me I won’t be doing that either because I’m allergic to the dust or mould on the gourds.
Which is more important to you, the subject of your painting, or the way it is executed?
When I’m painting it is the subject. When I’m making the fabric art and/or the mixed media art pieces it is the way it is executed. |
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I enjoy my work – both the writing and the visual art that I do. I’m sorry that the government feels so little for its people that they deprive them of the arts as much as they do. By limiting the grants and the dollars to support the arts the prices have to go up and therefore the majority of the people do not get to see or be part of the art scene. Please don’t let anyone tell you that it is that way all over the world. It is not. In many countries the arts and the artists are supported by the government and the majority of the people get to be part of the beauty. I’ve not figured out yet how to be a starving artist and one that doesn’t sleep – so many art pieces to do and so little time.
Where do you do your work?
I have a little one bedroom apartment and turned the bedroom into the storage and work place or studio – so I guess the short answer is home. I’ve been making art dolls or collector dolls or figurative art pieces for about four years. Pieces of it can be portable so I’ve taken some pieces to work on when I visit other doll/figurative artists and even when I visit family members. Some of the techniques used are great to work on while visiting – like beading.
Do you work from life, or from photographs or from imagination?
I actually work mostly from imagination and it can be stimulated by reading a story and/or looking at other pieces in magazines or on the web. When I see something in life that piques my curiosity or stimulates me then I will make a doll or figure from that like the piece “You Never Know Who Your Angel Will Be” which came after hearing how the Mayor of Toronto was getting “rid of the problem” of the homeless people while vying for the Olympics to come to Toronto. When I make the traditional Iroquois dressed female art dolls I’m also working from life and I make the clothing from the idea of the contemporary clothing that our people wear during ceremonies. |
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Do you prefer a perfect smooth technique or a more energetic expressive technique and why?
I’ve never learned to do the perfect smooth technique “yet”, although an artist in Thunder Bay offered to teach me that for a class at $500.00 per day. I thought I might be a slow learner and couldn’t afford it and so it has been the energetic expressive technique in my paintings. In my other mixed media pieces it has been a little bit of both and I am getting better at both – painting and creating. |
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