Letitia Fraser took a deep dive into abstraction without totally leaving realism for three large masterful paintings that speak about tradespeople but also have a lovely language of paint.

The Sobey Art Award longlisted artist holds true to her great colour sense and her intent to make visible the invisible in her exhibit, High Visibility, at the Lunenburg School of the Arts, 6 Prince Street, just through June 6. The gallery is open Monday to Friday, 10 to 4.

Fraser did a three-month residency at the school in the heart of the Old Town where boat builders and carpenters are hard at work. Raised in Beechville and East Preston, she connects her African Nova Scotian heritage of rural life and craftsmanship to the same heritage in Lunenburg.

Her new work is an adventurous stretch from her much-celebrated portraits of African Nova Scotians in bold, realistic paintings featuring a wonderful use of quilt and textile imagery.

The High Visibility paintings are spatial wonders that pull the eye into swirling depths of cold blues and purples and hot yellows and greens then out to the surface for a clear image in graphic drawing and paint. Her gestural use of pastel line is like a seed floating on the surface of a transparent pond.

Fraser’s fluid swaths of colour beneath surface markings are like the ocean. Her use of neon yellow-green intentionally recalls safety vests as well as fishermen’s buoys. The school is not far from the waterfront’s Fishermen’s Memorial to those lost at sea.

There is a visible and joyful freedom in these works, a sense of playing with paint, of letting it escape and do what it wants, before going “Whoa!” and reigning it in.

The female carpenter in How Hard Can It Be? wears pink safety glasses and has kinetic lines of yellow-green hair. Her hand is simply beautiful as a line drawing on top of a richly detailed surface.

In Study Long, Study Wrong another solo carpenter is marking in pencil on wood in a push and pull space of wood and interior depths while Roofers is a darker painting of figures at work at night. The roofers’ safety ropes are clearly visible which points to how dangerous the work can be.

Fraser is an interdisciplinary artist descended from a long line of artists and, according to the press release, likes to reveal “previously untold narratives” and pay “homage to her community’s history of quilting.” Here she honours carpentry and craftsmanship.

“In a time of rapid technological advances, Letitia draws inspiration from the trades that have shaped both her lineage and the fabric of rural communities. The collection of work celebrates the artistry of carpentry, stone masonry and the people who brave these highly physical occupations. These practices serve as more than just professions, but also as vessels of cultural memory, passed down through generations.”

Fraser graduated with a BFA from NSCAD University in 2019. Her awards include the 2018 Nova Scotia Talent Trust RBC Emerging Artist Award and the 2022 Sobey Art Award longlist.

She has exhibited in Family Patterns with Darcie Bernhardt at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (2022), Every Chain at the Chester Art Gallery (2022), Letitia Fraser at Mount St. Vincent Art Gallery (2019) and Mommy’s Patches: Traditions & Superstitions at the Anna Leonowens Gallery (2019).

It will be exciting to see what she does next. Her earlier work may be seen at www.letitiafraser.com.

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