Additional Images

Provenance:

Beckett Gallery Limited, Hamilton, ON;
Private Collection, Ontario

Note:

For Shilling, art was transformative. He felt a deep sense of love and responsibility towards his community—the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, located near Orillia, Ontario—and resolved to paint portraits of his people that were full of dignity and belonging, untethered from stories of loss. Forefront on his mind was the healing power of self-representation and beauty, noting “most people I paint don’t like themselves. I try to reveal their spiritual soul, the quietness that makes us different, that no other nation or people have.” Shilling distilled the thought even further, explaining that “I paint because there is no other way to express the beauty of my people.” [1]

Shilling focused on scenes borrowed from everyday—his family and friends, or of his immediate surroundings—depicting them with the muscular, hyper-pigmented style which was his signature. Of his fascination with painting children and the elderly, Shilling explained “children and elders are both innocent. That is why we get along. They understand me.”

“Three Girls Dreaming” showcases the artist’s virtuosic use of colour. Shilling explained that “colour is space, form and reflection. Colour is everything.” [2] His radiant, jewel-like palette is simultaneously bold yet restful: by some strange painterly alchemy, these rainbow hues align in such a way as to give the impression of a nocturne.

(1) National Film Board of Canada. “The Beauty of My People.” National Film Board of Canada, September 8, 2010. https://www.nfb.ca/film/beauty_of_my_people.
(2) “Arthur Shilling: A Closer Look.” Art Gallery of Peterborough, July 13, 2021. https://agp.on.ca/programs/arthur_shilling/.