Diana Thorneycroft: Canada, Myth and History is based on one of Canada's leading contemporary artists' series of photographs entitled Group of Seven Awkward Moments. The photographs represent dioramas that the artist constructed using dolls, toys, and other found objects which are set against seminal Group of Seven, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr landscapes. Thorneycroft's images represent social activities such as hunting, camping or skating that tell the stories of Canada. At first glance, they appear comical and satirical. But upon closer inspection, layers of narrative unravel that inquire into our cultural, artistic and national perceptions of our own past and present realities. The Group's heroic images of the Canadian landscape have become synonymous with national pride and cultural identity but juxtaposed with ideas around natural disasters and human tragedy they portray a much less idealized reality.This exhibition catalogue contains two essays; the first about the history and myth-making of a country, and the second, grounded in psychoanalysis discourse discusses the uncanny imagery of Thorneycroft's art. The publication also includes an interview between the artist and the author/curator as well as colour reproductions of the complete series of photographs alongside some of the famous historical landscapes that have inspired them from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

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