Art Gallery of Golden – Fibre Artist, Shasta McCoy makes wool sculptures. She brings myth into form by creating endearing woolly creatures. She invites people “to gather” on March 28 starting at 5:30 pm at the Art Gallery of Golden (AGOG) to learn about her process and experience her work.
Various myths, important to culture, humanity and her ancestry will be showcased through her exhibit, titled, “Prey – to gather” hosted by Kicking Horse Culture (KHC) at AGOG in Golden, B.C.
“I’m so thankful to have wool as a medium to express. It needs to be in a sculpture,” McCoys says.
Joining Shasta in her studio for an interview and having a sneak peek at her work, her materials, and talking about her process felt like being surrounded by wisdom and magic. She says she feels the time is right for her exhibit, which showcases sheep and other creatures and objects built from wool.
Drawing in myths through meditation while she weaves her work, she tells the stories of old myths, including the story of “Ymir”, the first giant in Norse mythology, as well as “Elen of the Ways”, the Celtic goddess of sovereignty, and more.
“Ymir was destroyed to make all things,” McCoy says, adding, “It represents the “supernova.”
“The star that literally connects us all together in community. Humans, non-humans. The literal entity that explodes and sacrifices itself to become what we are now,” she says, adding, “I’m excited to share Ymir with the world.”
Through showcasing Gods, like “Ymir” in her work she shares stories about Celtic, Norse, and Greek myths, that she says, give “insight” into our ancestry. These stories, she says, “teach us about safe paths to walk.”
“Herds are able to find success when they learn through their ancestors,” she says, adding, “I feel like I’m on the right path.”
With Bluegrass roots, McCoy grew up on a ranch in East Tennessee where she raised sheep throughout her childhood. She says she grew up wearing big belt buckles, going to livestock shows and sheering sheep.
Being witness to herds of sheep and cattle throughout her life, she says, she grew up seeing these herds as food, and financial well-being for the survival of her family. Today, through her unique work she pays homage to her heritage, southern roots, and ancestry.
“I saw them as food. They are valuable as food, a source of wool, milk and creating children, and baby animals,” she says, adding, “It does feel like a full-circle moment for me right now.”
Being raised in the South in a conservative environment, McCoy says, she grew up learning about different myths as “being dangerous for your spirit.”
“It’s like eating the fruit of knowledge,” she says, adding, “It’s important to create a dialect of where myths, science and religion can work together because they co-influence each other and should work together.”
Her work not only symbolizes the synergy of myth, science and religion coming together through artistic expression, it is a collaboration with nature.
At “Prey-To-Gather” visitors will meet myths like the Norns, who, in Norse tradition, were the female deities that nourish the roots of the trees and “Ymir” who stands on river rocks collected by McCoy, something she hopes spectators of her exhibit will pay close attention to.
“Look closely at all the stones in the show. They are a beautiful outcome of the earth destroying and remaking itself,” she says.
“This is very personal for me right now too,” McCoy says. With an uncertain political climate emerging through trade negotiations between the United States and Canada, and the War in Ukraine still a horrifying reality for people living in Golden, B.C. with family, ancestry and heritage there, McCoy says “Art is resistance.”
“Art is resistance, art is building community. Art is a way to love our neighbours,” she says, adding, “I’m focusing on art right now. It’s what I can do. It’s what I understand. It feels synergistic and it feels correct … it very much matters what our message is,” she says.
“I want people to meet these creatures on the physical plane and see what sparks within them; their lineage to the earth and all of our relations and very much wanted to bring a message of hope and connection and boundaries,” she says.
“Prey-To-Gather” builds upon her exhibit, “Other-wOOld” that was showcased at Centre 64 in Kimberly, B.C. in 2023. She brings one of her interactive pieces, titled, “Urd’s Well” from that exhibit to the AGOG for “Prey-To-Gather”.
“Urd’s Well” is an “immersive tactile experience” in a bathtub sculpted with wool. It is an interactive art piece where participants are invited to lie down in the tub and feel what it’s like.
“I want people to experience it and linger,” she says.
“Prey-To-Gather” starts on March 28 and will run at AGOG until April 26. During the exhibit, spectators will have the opportunity to meet, “Ymir”, “Bridgette”, and other pieces such as “Ellen’s Cloak” and more. McCoy utilizes copper wire and river rocks and uses a spectrum of colours from pastels to bold neon in her work.
The mythical characters showcased in the exhibit expose participants to a spectrum of colour and story that taps into the human spirit and various circumstances that connect us all.
“When we see life and experience humanity more on a spectrum, we are just able to see it better. If you were right inside of a rainbow you wouldn’t see it. A rainbow is a symbol of resistance, inclusion and recognition. We’re all kind of magical and we’re all in this together,” she says.
