The Woodland School Of Art Analysis

The Woodland School of Art, also known as Medicine Painting and Legend Painting, is a form of Indigenous art that focuses on depicting the traditional beliefs and narratives through a contemporary medium. Within this style, there are two works that have displayed this prowess of cultural representation for the Ojibway people. One work is Conquest of the Thunderbird by the founder of the Woodland Style, Norval Morrisseau, and Bear Medicine Healing by an artist who was inspired by Morrisseau, Marc Anthony Jacobson. In comparing these two works, this essay will be examining the stylistic and technical aspects of the works, the subject matter and its relevance to each artist’s cultural worldview, and the last aspect is the personal attachment of
Jacobson was born to a Swedish father and Ojibway mother. However, his family life was strained with trouble, and he was forced to move in with his maternal grandmother. Later on, Jacobson made himself a ward of the Children’s Aid at thirteen, in order for his grandmother to have less of a financial burden, as she did not have enough to afford to feed the both of them. While living on his own he discovered the art of Norval Morrisseau in one of his published books and was immediately inspired. It was this artistic inspiration that led the Children’s Aid to set up an apprenticeship program with Roy Thomas, a member of the Anishnabe who worked within the Woodland Style. Under Thomas’s wing, Jacobson learned many life lessons and two very important teachings to incorporate into his work; one being a focus on the technical skills of line, and the other was for his work to be original. Thomas’s teachings have had a profound effect on Jacobson’s work and continue to do so. This is evident in his work Bear Medicine Healing as it displays the qualities that remain a staple of Woodland Art similarly to Conquest of the Thunderbird. The painting, like Morrisseau’s, uses acrylic on canvas in order for the medium to depict and transcribe cultural values to a contemporary audience. Also similarly to Morrisseau’s work, Jacobson
Jacobson also discusses the concept of how all living things are connected and his cultures effort to live in harmony with the natural world. Jacobson’s piece Medicine Bear Healing displays this concept of living in harmony and humanity’s interconnection between all living things. Even within the stylistic works of the Woodland Style, there is the illustration of merging and interconnectedness, as the bear is seen with a fish, and two enfant thunderbirds within them. Jacobson also uses the importance of the cultural symbols of the Ojibway, mainly the bear. The bear has a key symbolic representation and relation to a variety of meanings: the concept of healing. The bear is a symbol of the medicine man, as well as motherly love, family, and strength. Jacobson goes into further detail on the spiritual association of the symbol as he says “Bear medicine represents the healers of society, and help to protect the sacred aspects of the traditional ways of the people. They are guardians of these healing ways and help to promote a deep sense of protection with the realms of the sacred.” (Jacobson, 2011) In the traditional beliefs of the Ojibway, animal symbolism is evident throughout their worldview and cultural beliefs. It would seem Jacobson uses not just the concept of interconnectedness within his culture but also animal symbolism to convey ancient teachings and beliefs to his