BRODY BURNS

Last March, Brody Burns hopped on a Zoom call with our team to discuss his exhibit Shapeshifter, his journey through the art world and how he always looks to find new concepts to paint. Burns has completed both in and out of province work and aims to expand to places like New York, Berlin and Paris. He combines science and spirituality to bring his work to life.

Levesque: What are three words you’d use to describe yourself?

Burns: I think introverted. Maybe music and painting.

Levesque: How would you describe your current self to your childhood self?

Burns: I think I’m in a much different space than my childhood. I kind of had, I wouldn’t say a rough childhood, but I was raised by my mother, didn't really have a father figure. So now I’m much more in control of my life and I’m not just there while things are happening to me, if that makes sense. So I think I’m much more following my path; who I want to be, who I want to be as an artist. I finished school and I kind of just realized I have all this power in me to really choose the future that I want. Compared to my childhood [where] I felt I didn’t really have a choice, I was just kind of living through things. I didn’t really see outside of that. 

Levesque: How did [familial relationships] impact your artwork?

Burns: Well I’ve always seen my cousins as kind of like my older brothers, just people who I looked up to. They’re a few years older than me so it was kind of like seeing what it was like being older through their eyes basically. But with my mother, we’re very close.

Levesque: Do you have an achievement you're most proud of?

Burns: It’s kind of like a tie between my [Shapeshifter] and completing my Masters of Fine Arts a couple years ago. So it’s a cross between the two because my recent exhibition was me as a full time artist out of school, so basically there’s no training wheels anymore. There’s a lot more pressure on myself to succeed or to just do a good job with it. But then my Master’s, I felt like that was the end of a seven year academic journey. I just knew how to be a student for that whole seven years basically, and going through the pandemic and going to school and just dealing with so much personal stuff that went on. So like I wasn’t going to reach the end of it, but then once it finally came, it was just a huge sense of relief. And I really didn’t know how to integrate back into society because I hate working full time jobs so all my effort is in me becoming an artist and being a successful artist and how can I make a living that way and not go back to a nine to five lifestyle?

Levesque: How would you like to transform them as a person?

Burns: I think I would like to be more extroverted in a way, just more engaged with different groups, galleries, people. Just supporting local shows and things like that in a sense.

Levesque: I noticed your signature is very unique and cool and I wanted to ask how that was born?

Burns: Basically that kind of started during my teens as a graffiti artist. I’d always draw this “Martian” man, he kind of looked like a thumb with eyes and a nose. That’s basically how it started. And then I just slowly started integrating my name into it and that’s pretty much how I signed all the backs of my paintings. They kind of have a little variation to them so it’s not like every one is the same but they’re all kind of similar in that sense too. 

Levesque: Can I ask why you do a little variation?

Burns: For me it’s just putting a stamp on it saying this one is unique, there’s nothing else like it. And for me, the Martian man is kind of like this alien from another planet who doesn’t really belong. That’s kind of how I felt my whole life, like I never really belonged in places. 

Levesque: You started with drawings in high school and in your teens. On your Instagram there’s a picture of you using spray cans, is that another form of your graffiti?

Burns: Pretty much. That’s like the safe side of graffiti, I guess you could say one where I don’t get caught or anything like that. So basically, I only knew how to use paint markers, markers and just spray paint. That’s kind of what I had so I just started using that and then eventually it kind of evolved into acrylic of course, because I was trying to get this really abstract Alex Janvier style and then finally I just decided to learn how to paint with a brush.

Levesque: So then your undergrad was when you decided you wanted to make a career out of it?

Burns: Yeah it was actually during an Indigenous Studies class that all of the colleges are recommended to take. So for me, it was an elective and my TA introduced me to Alex Janvier and one of his pieces called “Luca”, which is kind of this red paint painting with bubbly colourful insides. I thought that was a graffiti piece. I was trying so hard to decipher it and [the TA] was like, “No, that’s abstract Indigenous art.”. And then he introduced me to the Indigenous Group of Seven and all these Indigenous artists and that’s kind of when the light bulb flipped for me.

Levesque: Was there a different approach you had to art?

Burns: Kind of, that’s when I started doing acrylic pours but I felt like it was too limited with how I make some of my paintings. So I basically started taking studio electives, as part of my psychology degree, and just went from there. Just started getting better with different mediums, mainly paint brush. But I struggle painting small so I always try to paint large. And that’s kind of like graffiti in a way or mural in a sense. I like the action of getting my whole body moving as I think rather than just sitting there hunched over just using my wrists to move back and forth, plus my hands kind of shake too. When I try to paint small I kind of struggle with fine details.

Levesque: I noticed that one of your influences is Francis Bacon. Can I ask what draws you to his art?

Burns: I like how he depicts these grotesque looking body parts and kind of these creature esque looking figures in his work. And then hearing him talk about these internal things he’s faced throughout his whole life and that’s just how they appear on canvas. I was drawn to that because my work has always been safe and more abstract and more family friendly in a way. But with some of my recent works, I kind of went more to the dark side of things I guess you can say. But to me, there wasn’t anything wrong with me, it was more like I’m facing these things that I didn’t really face the last seven years because I was in the hamster wheel of university. I pushed off so many things. And for me, Francis Bacon was this way to share similar styles but to do it in my own way, talking about internal things that maybe scare other people but for me it was letting go of all that, releasing it. 

Levesque: Which artworks did that show up in?

Burns: Shapeshifter number two, four and five. Thing is number four is called “Two-Faced Chief”, so they’re kind of these soulless looking figures. One of them is this horn creature that’s eating a piece of meat and that’s talking about greed, like overconsumption. And the other is like a face that’s kind of splitting into two. I guess both of them are but one [specifically] is speaking about fear and anxiety and just kind of releasing that. And the other one is about to achieve that maybe, but abuses his power and he starts to turn soulless.

Levesque: For your exhibit, what was the goal for that?

Burns: I made paintings since the end of my MFA until recently and just decided to have a show with 525. The themes of it didn’t come till after we laid out everything in the space because when I’m painting in my studios, I only ever see two paintings up at a time and then seeing them all on a screen, digitally or Instagram, doesn’t really hit the same as seeing them in person. And then the themes start to come up of like Shapeshifer, beings that kind of do harm and how that relates to my life and then realizing maybe these shapeshifters aren’t just negative beings, they’re actual people like my niece being one of them or the men’s teaching group I went to with my cousin. There’s a big painting at the front [of the exhibit] called Teepee teachings that’s based on the values of each of the Teepee goals that we learned together. So it wasn’t just these grotesque beings, it was all the positive influences in my life as well and how they have contrast. And just showing me this is on the mind subconsciously, this is behind the work. So it just naturally evolved.

Levesque: It must have felt great seeing them up in a big space like that.

Burns: Yeah it really was. I felt like that space was kind of the perfect setting for my paintings. I’ve had them in other places where they just kind of seem too large for the space, where they feel really congested, but I think with that space, they were able to breathe and all the colours were bouncing off each other. 

Levesque: Would you say that the exhibition as a whole is a self portrait?

Burns: I think every exhibit might be in a way. But for me, this felt very personal, like people could see some of the abstract work but they wouldn’t necessarily realize the deeper meanings behind them or the symbology or how much pain is probably put into some of the paintings or where the ink originated from. 

Levesque: How has art taught you to succeed and fail?

Burns: My art is tied to spirituality, like Indigenous spirituality, so there’s this push and pull between it but I think for me, it’s allowed me to be more open about some of my experiences and then it creates this environment where people can talk to me about deeper or painful topics like the residential schools… or death and grief. I’ve experienced a lot of that in the last four years with my family so it’s kind of time for me to let go of it and not carry it. But it also invites people to talk about it if they wish. 

Levesque: Do you believe that there should be more open communication with that?

Burns: I think so. I think it depends on the artist and whoever’s painting, if they’re comfortable talking about this kind of stuff. But I think for me, I got my psychology degree but it left me with more questions than answers. I didn’t really like the way psychotherapy was set up, from a Eurocentric point of view, in school which was way different than what I was experiencing at sweat lodges, like talking with elders and hearing their life stories and experiences. There’s just this open communication in ceremonies that you don’t really get at therapy, because as a therapist you’re told not to give advice or go that kind of route. But with elders, it’s the complete opposite. I felt like I was healing more and I was releasing more. I felt lighter too, which always inspires some of my work. 

Levesque: Was there an art piece in the exhibition specifically inspired by it?

Burns: A piece called “Born Again, Die Again,” which is a painting but it’s also a projection mapping of me sitting in a sweat lodge, but the cover of the sweat lodge is removed because in my mind once you sit down in the lodge and the flap closes, that’’s like the whole thing disappears and your sitting on this platform in the middle of the Spirit world. And Spirits can walk up to you, talk to you, give you advice, but you may not hear them all the time, but they’re there. That’s kind of what that was for, me releasing all the things that I need to release there while there is a Spirit or mushum or kokum there guiding me.

Levesque: Have you felt that there were any Spirits leading you with your art?

Burns: I think all the time. There was just a lot of coincidences and a lot of things like opportunities leading to another opportunity, and then it just kept snowballing from there because once I started going to ceremonies during school and fasting every summer and going to pipe ceremonies, sun dances, feast and just helping out at the lodge, so many things fell into place when my life wasn’t really in a good spot. And then the right person would always come at the right time and then my art career just took off simultaneously as I was going to the ceremonies and then sometimes I would just wake up from them and have these visions or images in my mind of things to paint… the more I go to lodges the more images in my mind I see or the more inspirations, if that makes sense. But if I stay away from it, then it’s just kind of like that connection murky or cut off in a sense. So I guess in a way, I’m kind of like the tool, I’m just receiving these messages and this input.

Levesque: How do you find your endurance to overcome challenges thrown your way?

Burns: I think that it’s hard to pinpoint when that started because I went to Bold Eagle which is a basic military for Indigenous people in Alberta with the Canadian Forces. So that was my first challenge. I’ve just seen all the dress that my body can go through physically and mentally, just how to overcome that and learn to stand on your own two feet. And then there’s been challenges throughout my life since school, my personal life and with paintings but I don’t really give up easily or I’m kind of too stubborn in a sense.

Levesque: Do you have a favourite memory from [Shapeshifter]?

Burns: I think the closing reception and just when I was doing the artist walk through, I just realized how big the crowd was because every exhibition seems like the venues are getting bigger and bigger. The ceilings are getting higher too, but also the people that show up are becoming large. For my MFA, there weren't that many people compared to Shapeshifter. So for me, I think it was during my artist’s talk and just seeing all those that supported me the last five, six years in the crowd, along with so many new faces I met that night, the past week too.

Levesque: How do you feel about the community that came out to support you?

Burns: I felt so good because the art community here is kind of small, so everyone’s really pushing each other and supporting each other. I just felt like I’m solidifying my place in the community and just showing people like, “Hey this is what I can do with my art.”. And the 525 put on this massive exhibit that was up for a few days and I felt really good about the whole experience. 

Levesque: Where would you like to go next?

Burns: I kind of want to see my artwork leave Saskatchewan… Maybe Paris or New York or Berlin. Just all these art centers in the world basically, just kind of make my stand there.

Levesque: Is there a common idea that your works are based on? 

Burns: Energy and vibration, it’s kind of like the best way I can describe spirituality to people. I think that it resonates with the science world and the Spirit World. Basically how you have these orbs that are vibrating off of each other and depending on your emotional state, they’re either vibrating higher or lower, which determines the colour and aura they give off. But I like talking in terms of vibration and frequency about my work which is kind of like how people understand the orbs. They can be viewed as a Spirit or they can be viewed as an atom or neuron with axons and things like that. 

Levesque: There’s a lot of circles in your artwork.

Burns: So that represents either the Creator, us as little balls of orbs if you were to take away our flesh… the idea of cycles repeating.

Levesque: Do you see yourself as a certain colour?

Burns: It’s hard to say. I think it totally depends on how I’m feeling. It’s kind of like a mood ring, if I’m feeling angry or sad or grief, it’s more of a lower colour like red. But when I use red in my paintings it signifies power and healing because I think that’s when you need it most… Everyone going away from Earth is vibrating red because the wavelengths are longer, but it’s blue when it’s coming towards you because the wavelengths are smaller. So it kind of ties into science and how our eyes perceive colour. But for me it’s also shocker system based because I was into the whole shocker system when I first started psychology and just seeing what each of the colours represent in your body and how that relates to your life… And just like the colours you see in ceremonies with broadcloth and ribbon and what those mean and how the four directions have colours, so it’s based on all these different things. So it’s kind of hard to say which one I would be because I think it changes all the time. 

Levesque: There’s a lot of interconnectedness with your spirituality. How do you find that translates into your daily life?

Burns: I think I’m much more aware of how I react and interact with people and situations. I just feel like it’s made me hyper focused because before, when I was younger, I was much more energetic but more angry, I’d be prone to lash out and blow up in a sense, but now that I’m older and lived life a little bit I’m more calm about how I approach things and realized a more focused approach is better for situations.

Levesque: What do you look for in the people you choose to hold close?

Burns: I think honesty and realness. I think I have a good sense of judgement when I’m talking to people. I don’t like small talk… I want to know what you dreamed about, if you believe in aliens. I want to get to the deep stuff, I don’t care about small talk.

Levesque: What advice do you have for young artists in Saskatoon?

Burns: It’s kind of a long list but I’ll try to summarize it. Basically, just learning how to stand on your own two feet as an artist. There’s a lot that can be said about that, like maybe working your own style or keeping a consistent practice, like studio practice… Put yourself out there, can’t be afraid. You can’t be an artist if you don’t show your work to other people, well I guess you can be an artist but I think it’s more important to show your work to other people because you never know who’s watching. [You] might inspire somebody so they might offer you feedback about what you’re working on.

Levesque: Where do you want to go with your artwork? 

Burns: Yeah I thought about that for a while. I don’t really want to stay complicit or once bought with my work. I’m always trying to figure out new ways I can reinvent myself or learn different skills or different ways of making art and also like the style too. Right now my work is more abstract and figurative, leaning towards Francis Bacon. So it’s kind of like these two avenues for me with projection mapping AI which was kind of like me experimenting again with myself and just learning how I can reinvent my style or myself. I’m always looking at ways to be in that child state of play where I can just experiment and have fun with my work. In my mind, I’m always chasing this imaginary image I’ve never seen before that maybe will change my whole career as an artist or maybe just inspire the world. But I’m always chasing that image and I don’t know what it looks like and I don’t know how to get there so I’m always experimenting with new ways, new techniques, new concepts.

By: K. Levesque

All photos by Lumina Media