New Painting: In Heaven's Eyes

 In Heaven's Eyes (42"x30")

2020-2021

A glimpse of things to come

 I have been working on a painting of Viola Desmond (appears on the Canadian $10 bill) since 2020. Currently I'm recovering from major cancer surgery and looking forward to getting back into my studio to finish this piece.   #violadesmond #fineart

Check out my Instagram at: nick3paint

Defective #9611

Defective #9611 (40"x50")

This painting portrays one of Canada's eugenics victims, Mary (Mamie) Negrey (1892-1971). We see her face as she was in her old age not long before she died destitute. Beside this, we see an image of her as a young woman in happier times, before she was incarcerated for most of her adult life. After that, she became #9611. She endured incredible suffering and remained without voice while countless acts of injustice were committed against her, primarily because of her deformity. She had Kyphosis and was called a "hunchback." The building looming over the figures is the Mitchner Centre where the eugenics program was administrated from 1928 to 1972.

New Painting: Refuge from the Street

My newest work is entitled Refuge from the Street. I will be showing this painting  (48"x52"), at the Filmapalooza & Artwalk, Thursday, April 5th 2018 at the Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre (10440 - 108 Street, Edmonton, Alberta) 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I'm looking forward to it!

The street kid standing in the foreground is wearing a purple jacket which has been transformed from its former black colour. The transformation is due to an angelic stream of purple, the source of which is the female figure on the left side of the painting. The purple represents hope, amidst the consuming darkness of his current reality. The tinges of yellow which mingle with the purple is the colour the jacket will become once his transformation is complete; finally hope becomes his new reality and he finds refuge from the street.

New painting: "The Fence" 2016-2017

Finishing touches applied to "The Fence"

“We have a special fielder position for you!” This is the boy’s cue to go through the maintenance hole in the chain link fence, and stay there during the duration of the recess baseball game. The boy’s compliance is preferred to the alternative outcome if he dares to actually join in the game. If he chooses to confront the situation in any way, the humiliation would only be that much more intense.

The strands of the wire fence are purposely in a perspective where they are larger and thicker where the boy’s face is and smaller and thinner where his left hand is. Because where the strands intersect with the boy’s face, it is as if the strands become a mask, much like the mask of a world weary super hero who must contend with too much villainy. 

The flat monochromatic purple shirt of the boy totally blends in with the flat monochromatic asphalt of the residential street behind him. As if to emphasize the perception by his classmates, that he is a non-entity. In contrast to that there is some life by way of some colour within the boy’s face and hands as if there is still a remnant of a mind that is yearning to thrive.

As one with a cognitive disability, the boy like most with cognitive disabilities, is uncomfortably transparent in their social awkwardness, clumsiness and fallibility. Where the boys hands touch the fence, the strands of the fence begin to glow because the boy has an epiphany to the fact that his classmates, although less transparent in their fallibility are as much so as he is. Because of this realization, the fence unjustly separates all who are commonly flawed.

The tree in the background beside the residence, is highly stylized to add continuity, mimics the spherical shape of the boy’s head. The sun reflecting on the leaves and its illuminating effect, represents the belief that the boy’s discovery is not just from his own imagination.

Freedom painting

First of many layers to be painted

Completed work

 Entitled, School Brick Wall Morphs into Endless Prairie Landscape, (2016) this painting speaks of freedom. Every recess, this boy gravitates towards the school’s brick wall because to do otherwise, will result in him being a target of the bullies. His minds drifts to the freedom beyond the school walls and beyond the reach of those who want to do him harm.

The Miracle Car 2015-2016 

(Reflections of My Childhood Series)

The toy car the boy holds in his left hand ignites his memory of a genuine supernatural intervention. Because he is a child it wasn't long before, that he was in the back seat with his two younger siblings in a 1952 Buick Fastback.

His father sat in the front passenger seat while his mother was learning to drive. The father who was quickly losing his patience with his wife screamed: “Turn here!” The mother turned abruptly onto a country gravel road, and because she did it as a reflex response, the car lunged towards an extremely deep irrigation ditch. With the car turning on two wheels, and half the car suspended in the air, it seemed most assuredly that the car would roll over on its side. Because this model was not equipped with seat belts, the car rolling over would most certainly result in all its occupants perishing. Knowing that trying to steer the car was futile, the young mother screamed, with her hair billowing in the wind. Her hands were raised in a gesture of panic. The milliseconds that all this transpired, gave her little time to do anything else. While the boy's brother and sister noticed their mother's reaction, and the gravity of the situation, the boy's attention was drawn to a brilliant light just outside his window. Then as suddenly as this perilous turn of events began, it ended. The car's engine was turned off without the turning of the key and the car itself was neatly parked on the side of the road. A startled farmer came to the window of the driver's door and exclaimed: “I can't believe what I just saw!”

The car is depicted in the painting as if the intervening light has interceded with such a force that the very physical integrity of the car has been altered. The golden light that envelopes the boy reminds him that contrary to his inclination to perceive himself as insignificant, the memory reassures him that God intervenes on behalf of the weak.

Good bye friend, for now

Leilani Muir O'Malley 1944-2016

I received news of Leilani's passing with great sorrow, this morning. I am confident that she is currently without pain that comes with the stigma of cruel misconceptions.
Because I am aging myself, it may not be too long before I will join her. But until then, in honour of the many wonderful memories Leilani and I have shared and in honour of the God we worship, I hope to be more productive in creating my works of art than I have ever been.

Read Leilani's story in her autobiography, A Whisper Past

Sneak peek.

A new work is in progress at Nick's studio. Here's a sneak peek. We'll post a photo of the finished painting and its description soon. Stay tuned!

Epiphany from Heaven

 Epiphany from Heaven

2015

52"x36.5"

Often the demands and constraints within the structured educational environment causes undue pressure to students with cognitive disabilities. The grey void surrounding this teen represents the feeling that she is currently experiencing: that she is floundering. The tablet which is usually a source of escapism suddenly becomes the source of inspiration; symbolized by the wing that cradles her and the thin strand of light that connects the wing to to the tablet. Sometimes learning comes through personal discovery as apposed to the dictates of a structured curriculum.

Artist at work

A glimpse of Nick creating in his art studio ...

Listening to his favourite sound tracks, Nick begins painting
"Machine of Knowledge"

Applying undercoat layer of paint

Nick presented "Machine of Knowledge" and "Dark Pages"
at Difference & Diversity on October 22

Nick Supina III: Dark Pages

Dark Pages (2013)
by: Nick Supina III

Nick's latest painting features eugenics survivor Leilani Muir. The small black page on Leilani's chest is like that of an indelible mark. It was the first page. It was the page from which she became a "defective" marked for sterilization; it was the page that spawned the next page, a page depriving defectives from the right to adopt a child, even a young, vibrant and capable woman like Leilani. In confronting the Alberta government, the courts revealed many more dark pages that became a paper trail to a very dark place. The papers are dark with a layer of interference red symbolizing the evil. The blue and green areas are covered with interference colours that correspond with their conventional colours.

Painting again!

Nick has begun painting again in recent months  -- an exciting development for sure! Please watch this blog to see more fine art from Nick Supina III.

In the Face of a Precipice by Nick Supina III

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.