SPIRIT OF THE NORTH exhibit
April 2000 - Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery (Columbus Centre - Toronto)
by Rita DeMontis (Toronto Sun)


Perhaps it’s the pugilistic spirit ingrained in her own stubborn nature, perhaps it’s the supernatural quality of the landscape
that eerily haunts her, but artist Silvia Pecota is determined to uncover the secrets of the Arctic, to understand the language
of its wind and capture the ghostly shaman spirits that flicker against its barren and beautiful landscape. Pecota has
achieved this with her latest exhibit, titled Spirit of the North; Celebrating The First Anniversary of Nunavut, a moving
tribute to the people and sights of the Canadian Arctic, a land she has visited on six separate occasions, going back time
again with either gifts for the children of the small, intimate communities, or opportunities to teach photography. Each
journey has been a chance to fulfill her own yearning for this remote part of Canada which few have set eyes on, let alone
understood.

Today, Pecota’s dialogue is sprinkled with references to Inuit communities, to places called Repulse Bay, Kugluktuk and
Pond Inlet, a personal favourite. She became absorbed with the culture of this mystical land and the language of the elders. She has endured bone-chilling cold, had her cameras frozen solid while shooting, and has graciously eaten raw caribou, whale, and Arctic char, (an inuit version of breaking bread).

“It was 1994 when I first travelled to the Arctic as a photographer for a documentary film. It was then that I realized
there was so little for the kids to do, so I decided to collect hockey equipment for them,” said the award-winning
photographer, who helped send over 7,000 pounds of donated hockey equipment to the children of the North.

Pecota, born in Toronto, had an interest in art from an early age. Drawing turned into photography and to this day her camera
is always ready. Her past works are legendary. She was the first Canadian woman to hold a photo exhibition in the former
Soviet Union. Her love of boxing produced a photo exhibit featuring legendary names including Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Hurricane Carter. These photographs chronicled the triumph and despair in the ring . She later turned
her fascination of the boxer into a short documentary entitled Lacing On The Gloves, which won her critical acclaim
and awards. Her photographs have appeared in top publications in North America as well as Europe.

Her present show Spirit of the North; Celebrating The First Anniversary of Nunavut, at the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery
in the Columbus Centre, is on exhibit from March 28 - April 22, 2000. For the first time, with the collaboration of 3M Commercial Graphics, Pecota’s work has been digitally printed permitting an exhibit of large scale (4 x 6 ft) photo prints.

“I have such profound feelings about the North,” says Pecota. “ I have felt a connection, a spiritual kinship with the people
and with the land. I don’t know at what point the Arctic found its way into my blood, but I soon discovered that
photographing against an arctic backdrop was like painting on a pure white canvass; a background void of distracting forms, colours and textures. The faces I saw reflected a character and beauty of a traditional past and a patience and charm that
always assured me that I would get my picture. It has been a privilege trying to capture this Spirit of the North.”