Joyce Majiski | Mammoth Dreaming
Joyce Majiski
Mammoth Dreaming
FOCUS & EDGE GALLERIES
October 3 - November 1
Opening Reception: October 3, 5-7pm
Since first moving to the Yukon, I have been fascinated in learning that most of this Territory was ice free during the last ice age and that animals like camels, bison, horses, giant sloths and mammoths lived here. This Refugium, known as Beringia, existed about 30,000 years ago when it was possible to walk across the Bering Sea from Siberia to Alaska. Humans and animals could and did move back and forth between continents.
I have been dreaming of the time when woolly mammoths roamed the north. I wonder what the experience of seeing a herd of these beautiful animals travelling together across the treeless grassland would have been like?
In 1993, I created a series of photo-etchings of a mammoth skeleton that had just been excavated near Dawson, and thirty years later, that body of work has become a departure point for this project. Serendipity has brought me “full circle” and I’ve been studying, drawing and learning from the bones of this same mammoth in the YG Paleontology lab.
We know that woolly mammoths and other Pleistocene mammals lived in the Yukon during the last ice age -as hundreds of bones are found each mining season. However, we have no caves and no cave paintings of Pleistocene mammals. I wanted to address this important gap in my knowledge, to get a sense of the artistry left behind by humans in a similar environment and time frame, so I went to France to see some of the painted caves for myself.
In October 2023, I visited 3 real caves (Rouffignac, Font de Gaume and Combarelle) and the reproduction of Lascaux, specifically seeking mammoth imagery. From the accuracy of the artwork, it is clear that the human artisans had seen these animals for themselves. Imagine living with mammoths!!! I felt a resonance with these cave paintings. Knowing that we can all trace our roots to these ancient humans, perhaps my ancestor was one of those artisans. I’d like to think so.
This exhibition replicates the most profound experiences I have had during my journey with mammoths- witnessing the engraved and painted caves of France and seeing actual bones embedded in a wall of permafrost.
I invite you to also dream of mammoths.
JOYCE MAJISKI
Joyce Majiski is a professional full-time artist. Her work examines her connection to place, in particular to the natural world of the north. Past careers as a biologist and wilderness adventure guide in the Yukon Territory, Canada have augmented and contributed to her artistic practice and taken her to remote wild spaces in the north and elsewhere. She is a keen observer and collector of objects, fascinated by the complex intricacy and interdependence between ecosystems and all living beings.
Joyce has been invited to multiple artists residences in 11 countries and has toured her own solo exhibitions in Canada, Mexico, the US and Europe. She is the instigator of programs such as the Artist in the Park program in Ivvavik National Park, Art Under Pressure Giant Steam roller print event and other local and international art projects. She was also commissioned to create three permanent installations in Whitehorse.
In 2014, one of her artworks was selected by the Foreign Affairs Design Team and turned into a hand tufted Carpet. This carpet resides in the Yukon Room in the Canadian Embassy, (Canada House) in Trafalgar Square, London.
Joyce has active collaborative projects in addition to her own solo practice.
Majiski has been exhibiting her art since she was 16. She has lived and worked in the Yukon since 1984 and her first solo show in Whitehorse was in 1986/7.
Past Exhibitions
