ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Nevis, WI in 1958 and raised in Sandy Point, St. Kitts before immigrating to Toronto in 1974, I started painting in 1993 while studying at Sciences Po in Paris. I was moved by the view of the rooftops from my window, especially at dusk. One evening, I said, aloud to myself, I wish I had a camera to take a photo for my family back home. That is when my inner voice said, “Why don’t you paint it.” At the art supplies store on rue de Rennes near Montparnasse the next day, I did not have enough francs to purchase all the supplies, which is when my creative inner voice said, “paint in black and white.” That is how I started to paint.
Over the past 30 years, painting has been like jazz playing in the background of my life. In 2010, I received an anonymous message about my portraits saying, “What a shame you are a lawyer.” This touched me profoundly because deep down, I agreed. That is why when I retired from the Department of Justice Canada at the end of 2022, I decided to devote the next chapter of my life to my art practice and founded Dorette Pollard Art in 2023.
“LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE”
Just like that very first time, I have discovered that I paint best when I am truly moved by something. That is the case of the 64-portraits in the “Missing Women Series” dedicated to the missing and murdered women of the Downtown East Side in Vancouver, British Columbia and “The Wanted Men Series,” which stand for the proposition that if we had more men like these (Muhammad Ali #3, John Lennon #6, Sir Winston Churchill #7, Bertrand Russell #8 and President John F. Kennedy #9), we would not have men of infamy who murder women and notably Indigenous women.
Recently, I introduced colour to my palette, using water mixable oils, which I switched to after a health scare in 2003. A colour is not only influenced by what is around it but can also be transformed when mixed with black and/or white! The possibilities are infinite, as illustrated in my “Colour Series Squares.” During these colour mixes, I keep a blank canvas at hand to create the “Derivative Art Series,” where I let the excess paints flow in spontaneous play.
I share my art here with you today to encourage you to listen to your inner voice, nurture your own colour awareness and always take time to play.
