Myth and the Witch

Stop by the Massy Gallery March 8th- April 2nd  to see Natasha Broad’s “Myth and the Witch,” a series based in healing.

Drawing insight from the depths of the 16th and 17th witch hunts, Broad tunes into the underpinnings of the larger sociological and political realities of gender discrimination from which our patriarchal systems have been drawn. Broad’s drawings are delicate but exacting in their reclamation of women’s power; they inherit a dark history but do not play into any ruling ideologies. Her work addresses not only what it meant to be a woman in 16th and 17th century Europe, but also how one inhabits this history, and how the witch has been reframed to suit modern patriarchal and capitalist needs. Through the use of iconography that is both mythical and corporeal, spiritual and scientific, Broad permeates a system of symbols and practices that have been held hostage— reclaiming a malevolent magic, an essential force.

Natasha Broad grew up on Vancouver Island and left to pursue drawing at Emily Carr University. In 2013 she graduated with her BFA, where shortly after she became pregnant with her daughter, who now is her inspiration, showing up occasionally in her art practice. Her daughter serves as a driving force to do better as an artist, mother and womyn identified. Natasha won second place in a nation-wide competition in 2013, was a nominee for the sustainable arts award in her graduating class and continues to show her work regularly in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.