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CM . . . .
Volume VII Number 16 . . . . April 13, 2001
In 1997, Wanda Koop, internationally acclaimed painter and video artist, undertook a deeply
personal journey to create her most important body of work. The artist traveled to the Southern
Ukraine with her mother, 77-year-old Erika Koop, who was born on a wealthy estate there in
1919. In the name of the Russian Revolution, bandits raided the estate and killed Erika's mother.
Shortly after, the family members fled to Canada where they were forced to start their lives over
as poor immigrants in a strange land. Koop maintains that creating this body of work has been the
biggest challenge of her career. She says she has attempted to deal with a universal theme: to
show that her family's experience is not unique but happens over and over. She compares the
immigrant experience to artistic creation: both processes force people to start over from nothing,
to go to a foreign place and to learn a whole new language.
Koop used the video camera extensively on her visit to the Ukraine. Among the many images she
has captured are the brilliant sun-dominated landscape, the tree-lined walkway of an abandoned
estate, lilacs blooming in a forgotten graveyard and, above all, the central figure of her mother as
she walks among the ruins of her past. Throughout the video, the viewer sees the image of a
strong and beautiful young woman rowing a boat covered with rose petals. Later, viewers learn
that the woman represents Erika's mother moving through difficult waters with grace and serenity;
the rose petals symbolizing the beauty and scent of loved ones who will always be with us.
Two years after the journey, the artist had her paintings installed in the 19th century Canadian
Bank of Commerce building on Main Street in the artist's home town of Winnipeg. Several shots
of Koop watching as the huge paintings are framed and hung in the cavernous marbled interior of
the long unused bank show a nervous and excited artist who insists that "The first time I really see
a painting is when I install it." Perhaps the most touching moment of the film is when Wanda
takes her mother through the exhibit. As they gaze upward at the paintings, they discuss the
meaning of the oft-repeated circular images on the canvases. "Life moves on, but it always repeats
itself. Yes, that's beautiful," says Erika.
Greg Lowe's haunting musical theme played on the piano and cello sets a mood of bittersweet
nostalgia as it is heard throughout the video. Wanda Koop: In Her Eyes is a film of process as
much as product and, as such, will be of interest to art teachers and students everywhere. This
moving and gently-paced documentary is an excellent introduction to the striking and evocative
work of this gifted artist, particularly at the senior high school level.
Highly Recommended.
Valerie Nielsen is a retired teacher-librarian who lives in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - April 13, 2001.
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