Tuesday, October 6, 2009

an angel or just a prairie wind


an angel or just a prairie wind
26"x36"

Growing up in a small Alberta town this boy is never very far from the waves of prairie grass blowing in the wind. If you listen closely, the wind is like the muted chorus of angels. This painting depicts just one of the angels, leaning in, whose protection envelopes this cognitively disabled boy.




purchase inquires:
nick3paint@gmail.com

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Portrait and Perception


Portrait & Perception (The Eugenics Dimension) 2005
University of Alberta Art Collection

Description:
Lielani Muir stands in the foreground casting a large shadow on the administration building at the Michener Centre, also known as the Provincial Training School (PTS).  At her feet are the disembodied heads of John Brownlee, Emily Murphy, William Aberhart and Ernest Manning who were all active proponents of the Alberta Eugenic Program. As premier, John Brownlee signed the first Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta in 1928. Emily Murphy, though she was purportedly an emancipator of Canadian women, served as a catalyst in causing the repression of female children through this program. William Aberhart and Ernest Manning, both premiers with pseudo-Christian ideologies, strengthened the Eugenics Program throughout their political careers. A demonic figure embraces Aberhart and Manning, alluding to their blatant hypocrisy. The ghostly car represents how Leilani, like scores of other children, were discarded at the institute by their own parents or guardians. As “trainees,” they were brought before the Eugenics Board and recommended for sexual sterilization at this site. The cloud hovering over the building symbolizes the judgement that hangs over the whole program, reminding us to be aware of its skewed philosophies.












Character Assassination

The hand represents the perception of others: the boy's character deficiencies have negative influence on his scholastic and social potential. Therefore the gesture of the hand is accusatory. His gun represents that this perception of others has been internalized.


Inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Monday, July 27, 2009

Brave Smile


Brave Smile
20"x40"

In days gone by, when inability to conform to academic standards was perceived as wilful belligerence, the perceived remedy from educators was verbal and physical abuse. Today, although there are many excellent special needs teachers, still too often, children still fall through the cracks.

Inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Sunday, July 12, 2009

human marionette




human marionette
24 x 40
acrylic on canvas

The bully is asserting his power over the girl by forcing her to pretend that she is his puppet. The expression on her face clearly demonstrates her resignation to her plight.



private collection

Monday, June 1, 2009

Tender Tears



tender tears
34"x52"

Those who mocked Jesus on the cross by saying “If you are the Messiah, why don’t you save yourself.” are the very kind of people who mock the cognitively disabled by saying “If you would only start applying yourself, you wouldn’t be in the mess you are in!”

Inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Paper Thin


paper thin
30" x 42"
acrylic on canvas


Empathy is paper thin in this teenage boy's life. You will notice that this teenager is surrounded by the colour red. In this case, red represents the never ending struggle that comes with dealing with a cognitive disability. The only stabilizing factors are a handful of loving people in his life and a belief in God’s presence amidst his suffering. His belief seems so ethereal it is as thin as his drawing of an angel floating aimlessly in the wind.




Purchase inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Friday, May 1, 2009

The intercession, a rescue from the deluded


The intercession, a rescue from the deluded
acrylic on canvas
38" X 52"
Designated Painting

Warm and real, the vivified child ascends through streams of liberating fire and light blown by the breath of God. Below, deluded phantoms obliviously drift towards hell, grey and empty pontificating ghosts deliberating lofty dissertations as to their great accomplishments, all founded on merciless indifference.

The rising radiant child is actually Judy, a victim of Alberta's eugenics program. The descending dead are the provincial leaders responsible for Alberta's eugenics program, which was based on the same ideology that inspired the eugenics program of Nazi Germany. They are Premier Earnest C. Manning, Premier William Aberhart, Emily Murphy and Premier John E. Brownlee.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Paper People's Hope in Children


paper people's hope in children
30" x 42"
acrylic on canvas

Children who undergo the perils of coping with a cognitive disability and all of the trials that come with it, cry out to adults for solace and guidance. Unfortunately, often, they only receive the kind of empty platitudes one might expect when reading a “Get Well” card, if that. With that in mind, I depicted the two adults as being paper thin, much like a simple greeting card. Both children are precariously close to a dark hole.


Inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Girl with book of blank pages


girl with
book of blank pages
40" x 24"
acrylic on canvas




To this learning disable girl
the school book may as well have blank pages
because she cannot comprehend its
dreary contents.
The words war against her mind with ever
victorious results,
causing her unceasing anxiety and frustration.
Yet, she spontaneously embraces the body
of the book
with acquiescent affection, as a symbol of
her school,
because she likes the teacher and her classmates,
and wants to please her parents by doing well
in school.
In exasperation, she raises the cover to her head
and leans upon it, looking for support,
though its words will not open up to her mind,
nor help her please her parents, teachers
and peers.
So the book still lays passively on her arm,
as though it is comfortable
with her warm acceptance of its physical existence,
but forcing her arm to conform
to its uncomfortable angular shape nonetheless.

Purchase inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Drain Brain and Flattened Vertically


drain brain
36: x 48"
acrylic on canvas


True story:
Words and numbers often popped into his brain
in the wrong order, or with reversed characters,
so his spelling was always very bad.
He trembled when the teacher told him to spell
the word "drain" on the chalkboard,
in front of the whole class.
And, as usual, he messed up,
by scrawling the word "brain" instead.
Then his unsympathetic and impatient teacher
neatly wrote the correct spelling above it.
In her frequently mocking voice,
she read the words "drain brain."
After this she quipped, "Obviously,
God gave you a drain instead of a brain."
The class laughed,
but a ministering spirit
assured that he would overcome
this humiliation someday.



flatten vertically
20" x 38"
acrylic on canvas
The inspiration for this painting came from my own experiences of constant verbal and physical abuse during my formative years from school bullies, teachers and my father. After enduring the abuse, I felt physically cold, the kind of cold that permeates one’s entire being. Ironically I have always had a fear of intimacy because I remember seeing women like a teacher I knew and my mother who seemed to suffer the identical core coldness that I experienced. To the casual observer, the three female figures seem like they’re cowering just before encountering abuse, yet again. While the body language could very well be attributed to that, it could also be the cold felt after the fact.








Purchase inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Paper Jesus

Paper Jesus
28" x 52"
acrylic on canvas
Private collection

paper Jesus
After he heard that Christ died for our failures, a cognitively disabled boy creates a paper Jesus. The prominent Xs and zeroes
on the figure represent his teacher's marks at school: Xs transform into a crown of thorns, and zeroes form nail holes in Jesus' limbs.
In faith, he reflects on Jesus' empathy, as peaceful blues surround him. But where is Christ's real body, the church? Many Christians unjustly ignore, accuse, or even persecute souls with invisible disabilities; refusing to acknowledge the physical reality of neurological disorders. In ignorance, they abandon Jesus' work of love; their duty to comfort, help and accept.

Inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

Brand NEW Blog featuring paintings of Nick Supina III


empty thought balloon
20" x 40"

acrylic on canvas

The girl pokes fun at herself, which may look self depreciating. But she provides a clue to what lies beyond the obvious. In the thought balloon,
three  blank spaces end in a hybrid punctuation (something between an 
exclamation and a question mark), suggesting three emphatic words, known only to her.
Below, a ladder retreats into a hole, which seems to be in her head, leaving evidence as to where her thoughts have fled. And her smile reveals a secret
as warm and deep as the surrounding colour. Even the static frame of the metal school desk cannot confine her soul's capacity.
SOLD: Private collection


blue arc
32" x 44"
acrylic on canvas


Many of my paintings depict children whose only friend is an imaginary companion. The irony is as an artist that imaginary friend is a reoccurring symbol of God’s real presence and love for the marginalized. The arc in this work, is a slight reference to the arc of the rainbow which God gave to the world as a promise that he would never destroy the world in a flood again.







just one touch
22" x 44"
acrylic on canvas

This painting is based on an extraordinary human being, a learning disabled Indigenous girl. The symbolism depicts an angelic character; touching the mind of the girl with a feather as if to suggest that the core of her selfless demeanor is not by way of coerced indoctrination but rather by way of God speaking to her soul.


Purchase inquiries: nick3paint@gmail.com