Permanent Press Landscape

Inspired by the iconic works of Emily Carr , the Group of Seven (G7) and Tom Thomson , the paintings and prints that form this series are based on degraded digital images of Canadian masterpieces that were found on the internet. Using a geometric language he created, Coupland has Photoshopped these well-known landscapes and reduced their compositions into flat planes of colour. In a sense, these classic representations of Canadian identity are recast from a 21st-century perspective using contemporary tools, raising the question of whether “Canadianness” should still be defined by a relationship with nature.

Through a wide range of media including assemblage, installation, painting , photography, sculpture and quilts, Coupland has persistently investigated Canadian cultural identity, both benign and menacing. Using imagery and objects latent with symbolic meaning for Canadians , he delineates what it means to be Canadian, offering a “secret handshake” not easily understood by others.