Heart On, 1962

Framed mixed-media piece by Joyce Wieland of a loosely hanging canvas, resembling a crumpled bedsheet, with red stains and cut-out canvas hearts applied on top.

Joyce Wieland, Heart On, 1962, red electrical tape, chalk, crayon, and ink, with linen and wool on unstretched canvas, 177.8 x 251.5 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

At first sight the pinkish-red colour scheme and cluster of hearts in Heart On are reminiscent of a valentine, but the stain-like shapes also incite more unsettling associations with bodies and blood. The loosely hanging canvas resembles a crumpled bedsheet, and female viewers may be reminded of accidental menstrual bloodstains. Wieland situates artmaking in the very midst of the everyday—in the domestic sphere, in the bedroom, and within intimate human relationships.

Gallery

Heart On - Art Canada