{"id":387736,"date":"2026-01-02T22:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/387736\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T22:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:40:14","slug":"artist-maura-meng-uses-yellowknife-clay-in-self-reflective-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/387736\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Maura Meng uses Yellowknife clay in self-reflective exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yellowknife artist Maura Meng says some of her newest exhibition at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre amounts to a visual representation of her emotions.<\/p>\n

The exhibit includes about 200 ceramic hands appearing to emerge from the gallery\u2019s walls, pieces she \u201chustled\u201d to create over the course of about a year.<\/p>\n

They are made from clay that Meng dug out of the ground around Yellowknife and fired in a wood kiln.<\/p>\n

\u201cI start by building a hand out of clay, then I make a mold of the hand, and then I cast the hand with the local mud,\u201d said Meng. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very labour intensive and there\u2019s a lot of little steps that go along with it, but I just got it in my head that I was going to do this, and then I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The exhibit includes a series of masks that Meng said she used to explore her emotional states.<\/p>\n

Meng, who spoke to Cabin Radio while attending an artists\u2019 residency in Medicine Hat, Alberta, said it was important for this work to first be shown locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m working here then I should be showing here too,\u201d said Meng. \u201cThe museum looked like an ideal space to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she designed the exhibition to be readily accommodated inside the territorial capital\u2019s Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, where there is limited floor space but an abundance of wall space.<\/p>\n

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Meng moved to the Northwest Territories in 2014, a press release about the exhibition said. She first began creating functional pottery before shifting to sculpture to allow for more intuitive exploration and more complex ideas.<\/p>\n

Offering a word of advice to other artists and creatives, she said it\u2019s important for them to be persistent with their efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing is that you just keep exploring your ideas and work from your inspiration,\u201d said Meng. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of things that happen \u2013 you have an idea and you try and find support for the idea, and some things work out, and some things just don\u2019t work out \u2013 but you have to keep going anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibition, titled Unearthed, will be on display in the museum\u2019s Mezzanine Art Gallery until May 2026.<\/p>\n

Jasmine Nasogaluak contributed reporting.<\/p>\n

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