Meryl McMaster facts for kids

Meryl McMaster, born in 1988, is a talented Canadian photographer. She is also a member of the Plains Cree people. Her most famous photos explore her Indigenous background and cultural identity. She often uses portraits to show these important themes.

About Meryl McMaster

Meryl McMaster was born in 1988 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She is a Cree woman from the Siksika Nation. She went to the Ontario College of Art and Design University. There, she studied photography and graduated in 2010.

Her Art and Photography

McMaster often takes pictures of herself or other people. She uses these photos to explore ideas about First Nations peoples and what it means to be part of a culture. She adds elements of performance and art installations to her work. This helps her share her mixed heritage and important cultural places in Canada.

Exploring Identity

Meryl McMaster's art looks at how we understand who we are. This is especially true for her, as she has both Indigenous (Plains Cree) and European (British/Dutch) family roots. She uses a special approach where she mixes performance, sculpture, and photography. She creates staged images with detailed costumes and props. McMaster sees these items as ways to change herself and as parts of her body.

Her first big photo series was called Ancestral (2008). In this series, she used old photos of Indigenous people. She then projected these images onto herself and her father for her own photos.

Creative Props and Themes

McMaster uses amazing props in her art. For example, in Winged Callings, she uses animal costumes. In Aphoristic Currents, she made a collar from hundreds of twisted newspapers. These props help her explore how cultural and personal memories connect with imagination. Both of these works are part of her In-Between Worlds series (2010–2013).

McMaster has said she wants to explore how we build our sense of self. She believes this comes from the land, our family history, and our culture. She continues to explore identity, colonialism, and the environment in her large-scale artworks.

Awards and Recognition

Meryl McMaster has received many awards for her photography.

• In 2010, she won the Canon Canada Prize. She also received the Ontario College of Art and Design Medal in Photography. Other awards included the Spoke Club Membership Prize and the Vistek Photography Award.
• In 2013, she received the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship.
• In 2016, she was considered for the Sobey Art Award.
• In 2017, she won the REVEAL Indigenous Art Award.
• In 2018, she was one of three winners of the Scotia Bank New Generation Photography Award. This award helps young artists who work with cameras.
• She also received the Charles Pachter Prize for Emerging Artists and the Doris McCarthy Scholarship.

Art Exhibitions

Meryl McMaster's art has been shown in many places. Her first solo exhibition, In-Between Worlds, opened in 2010. It traveled to several galleries, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, until 2017. By 2015, McMaster had shown her work in over forty group shows. These were in Canada, the United States, and Italy.

A special show of her work was put together by the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) in 2016. This exhibition then traveled to other places like the Doris McCarthy Gallery and the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Her art was also a big part of Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2017.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Spirit in the Land, Pérez Art Museum Miami, 2024; and Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2023
• Native Portraiture: Power and Perception, Tacoma Art Museum, 2018-2019
• Niigaanikwewag, Art Gallery of Mississauga, 2018
• Recover All That Is Ours, Campbell River Art Gallery, 2018
• ÀDISÒKÀMAGAN/NOUS CONNAÎTRE UN PEU NOUS-MÊMES/ WE’LL ALL BECOME STORIES, Ottawa Art Gallery, 2018
• Embodiment, Museum London, 2017-2018
• New Generation Photography Award Exhibition, National Gallery of Canada and Onsite Gallery, 2018
• Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2017
• The Sublunary World, Baldwin Gallery, 2017
• My Spirit Is Strong, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Art Gallery, 2016
• Back Where They Came From, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, 2016
• Fifth World, Mendel Art Gallery, 2015
• Identity (Material Self: Performing the Other Within), MOCCA Toronto, 2014
• In the Flesh, Ottawa Art Gallery, 2013
• 1812–2012: A Contemporary Perspective, Harbourfront Centre, 2012

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• Confluence, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 2018
• In Between Worlds, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2017
• The Fifth World, Mendel Art Gallery, 2015
• Second Self, Latcham Gallery, 2011

Art in Collections

Meryl McMaster's artwork is part of many public collections. These are places where art is kept for everyone to see. Some of these collections are:

• The Canadian Museum of History
• The Art Gallery of Ontario
• The Canada Council Art Bank
• The Eiteljorg Museum
• The National Museum of the American Indian
• The Ottawa Art Gallery
• The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
• The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
• Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada