Jul 15, 2026

Bewabon Shilling's Immersive Landscapes

This non-traditional landscape painting envelops viewers in a field of purple, blue, and ochre

An image of Bewabon Shilling's painting Field Series -- Purples. It is composed of multiple brush strokes of purple, blue, and ochre colours that fill the whole canvas

Bewabon Shilling. Field Series – Purples, 2024. Oil on canvas, Overall: 121.9 × 182.9 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds from the Greg Latremoille Fund, 2025. © Bewabon Shilling. 2025/1049

It almost feels like one can enter Field Series – Purples (2024) and find themselves in a field of flowers on a warm afternoon.

In Anishnaabe artist Bewabon Shilling's Field Series – Purples, the horizon line lives beyond the canvas. Departing from a representational landscape, Shilling offers an uninterrupted visual field that immerses viewers within a sea of vibrant colour.

Moving between memory and perception, and between figuration and abstraction, Bewabon Shilling's work engages with the geographical and emotional aspects of place.

Bewabon is the son of late artist Arthur Shilling (1941-1986) and the older brother of fellow artist Travis Shilling. All three are now represented in the AGO Collection. Bewabon Shilling currently practices in his family's multi-generational studio, built by his father and located on Rama Mnjikaning First Nation. His work focuses on depicting the surrounding landscapes and environments, specifically the land surrounding Lake Couchiching and the Black River. He often begins his works en plein air, then transitions to the studio where he evolves them into their final abstract forms. Speaking on his process, Shilling shared, "When you are painting landscapes in your studio... a new door opens."

Field Series – Purples illustrates how Shilling creates abstract landscapes that remain rooted in place. The layered brushstrokes of purple, violet, sky blue, and ochre evoke rhythm, and although the horizon is absent from this work, Shilling depicts the sensations of the landscape: elemental movement, warm light, and even seasonal change.

Shilling began the Field Series around 15 years ago, approaching the earlier works from a representational lens with distinct horizon lines and skies. As the series evolved, he created abstract landscape paintings, as seen in Field Series – Purples. Reflecting on the progression of the Field Series, Shilling shared that he began the series with "a tree on top of a hill, then the horizon got smaller and smaller until it was just the field. Placing the colours together, it took on something else."

Get lost in a field of purple by visiting Field Series – Purples by Bewabon Shilling, currently on view in the Wilder Gallery (gallery 228), located in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous + Canadian Art on Level 2 of the AGO.