Robert Burke: A Progressive Identity
Cowichan Public Art Gallery, 126 Ingram Street, Duncan V9L 1P1
Lower Gallery March 13 - May 30 2026.  Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00-4:00
Photo of Artist Talk on March 21 included below.
​

In 2020, writing for Focus magazine, I interviewed Robert Burke in his rural studio in Somenos, north of Duncan - pen and paper in hand. At that time, I wrote an article describing his vibrant artwork to promote his upcoming solo show at Winchester Galleries. Six years later, our interview unfolds in two separate locations during a phone call. While we both look at his artwork on this webpage, Burke talks easily. He recalls fascinating details about his life-journey of 82 years - while I type madly into the computer.

The Journey Begins, acrylic, triptych, 60x90 in, 2013

The Journey Begins describes Burke’s removal from his home community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories at age four. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Residential School on the shores of Great Slave Lake, about 100 miles away. This painting, about 8 feet in length, has many figures in various postures that communicate emotions of entrapment, shock and grief. The taking of children from their families involved authorities that included government officials, mounted police and priests. Burke explains that his own non-Indigenous grandfather was a special constable responsible for the removal of children. He placed his grandfather in the painting, bottom left with a green hat. One wonders about the grandfather: what emotions did the constable encounter doing his work within the Indigenous community? This unusual circumstance shows how the social web that facilitated the erasure of Indigenous culture was complex and multi-faceted.
​

They Never Came Back, acrylic, triptych, 54x90 in, 2012

​Robert Burke enrolled in the Victoria College of Art at age 53, after a successful forestry career. In 2000, his final year, the National Aboriginal Foundation assisted Burke by acquiring two artworks from his Aboriginal Immersion series. Support from the Canada Council for the Arts followed with funding for two series: The Silent Breed and My Residential School Experience. These paintings exhibited widely in northern communities and BC public galleries. They Never Came Back was part of the The Silent Breed series. Burke’s father was a Black African soldier from the southern United States conscripted to build the Alaska highway during World War Two. His mother was a Métis of Dene descent, not able to raise her son. After the completion of the highway all the soldiers returned to the US.

The fractured emotional terrain of this situation is embedded in the disjointed facial features and awkward postures of the various forms. Many hands cover hearts or stretch out into space, lacking connections. The artist has created an eye-popping and perplexing puzzle using vivid contrasting colours and hard-edged shapes. Loaded with jostling energy, each of the human and animal forms intrude on each other’s space. Rigidly defined, yet overlapping, the forms recede into space, each shouting out confusing emotional messages.

Who might these figures represent? In the right panel, a figure wearing a uniform with three yellow bands on the left sleeve, may represent the father. Burke believes he was a sergeant in the army. A three-bar chevron worn point down is the insignia of a sergeant. This insignia is repeated on the body of the blue bird framing the buffalo head. Far right in the painting is a figure wearing a green suit who Burke suggests is one of his mixed-race friends from the residential school. Burke felt shunned by the Indigenous students but bonded with a group of students with Black heritage. “There was a group of us who got along well and kept in touch over the years,” he says. Burke recalls his friend being tall, handsome and an eloquent speaker, all qualities he admires.

Residential School Memory, acrylic, 33x35 in, 2024

The Touch, acrylic, 36x33 in, 2011

Northern Law, acrylic, 38x32 in, 2008

In 2024, Residential School Memory was chosen by Canada Post for their Truth and Reconciliation series. Since 2022, the artwork of three residential school survivors have been featured each year. Burke recalls the harshness of the environment: the cruelty of the nuns, the physical labour and poor nutrition endured by the students. “I suffered a lot of rejection,” he says, “so I had no option but to become smarter, more intelligent and fight back.”

​The Touch shows the tall robed figure with his hand on the youth’s head, which Burke recalls being an alarming and recurring situation. In contrast, the larger central figure with negroid features serves as a counterpoint, not available yet looming large on the psychic horizon. Northern Law shows individuals responsible for bringing children into residential school custody, including a priest and an RCMP officer.

Raven Dreaming, acrylic, triptych, 46x123 in, 2003

Raven Dreaming, completed in 2003, is almost 4 feet high and more than 10 feet long. The cast of characters in this monumental drama includes a dancing raven transforming into human form and many Indigenous symbols, personas and cultural activities. Burke explains: this painting comes from my Aboriginal Immersion series, in which I was investigating the cultural traditions of my Dene heritage. “I grew up without the spiritual teachings and medicines of my ancestors,” he says. As a result, Burke questions his authenticity as an artist to accurately represent Indigenous ways of being.

Burke remains confident about his artistic abilities, however. “I am a painter”, he says, “I have always used my imagination to create exciting worlds and unique images.” To cover the 10-foot area of Raven Dreaming, he used three canvases. For each, he built the wooden frames on which he stretched the canvas. Before beginning a painting, he settles on a broad theme, in this case, ravens. “I work on one area, then move to another, until finally I realize I have a painting.” Burke favours acrylic paint because it dries quickly and delineates the precise forms and complex imagery that express his voice. As a colourist, he is able to fine-tune the hue by layering colours until the correct tone emerges.
​

Inner Masked Dreams, acrylic, 40x36 in, 2003

Friends of the Moon, acrylic, 40x34 in, 2010

Lifestyle Consequences, acrylic, 36x33, 2022

Raven & Urban Associates, acrylic, 50x53 in, 2024

Cultural Observations, acrylic, 33x35 in, 2025

​Over 20 years have passed since Raven Dreaming appeared in 2003. Lifestyle Consequences, Raven & Urban Associates and Cultural Observations stand out as fresh and vital contemporary artworks. In these works, Burke comments on our lifestyle choices, downtown antics and interpersonal relationships. Burke’s own lifestyle remains peaceful, living with his family and two bouncy dogs on the shores of beautiful Lake Cowichan. His longterm goals? He would be pleased to have his entire collection purchased by a corporation or foundation. Also happy to see his artwork in a prestigious location similar to Morning Star by Alex Janvier, that graces the rotunda of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. Becoming more practical, Burke concedes that “just selling another painting” would add to his kayak gear and ability to transport his beloved vessel to other waters.

President David Coulson (left) with Robert Burke at Artist Talk on March 21.

​



​Founded in 2017, the Cowichan Public Art Gallery Society is a volunteer-run organization that seeks to build a world-class art gallery in Duncan. While working toward their future gallery goals, the Cowichan Gallery has a year-round exhibition schedule. Community support is crucial to the success of CPAG. Please visit the website to find out how to donate, become a member, and support the gallery through volunteer opportunities.
www.cowichangallery.ca;  [email protected]

Photos courtesy Chris Bone
​​Web Design and Content by Kate Cino.  
​Arts writer published in Focus, Yam, Boulevard and Monday Magazine.
History in Art degree and Public Relations certificate from the University of Victoria. 
​This website and its content is copyright of Art Openings, 2009.  All rights reserved.
[email protected];  250 598-4009
​