The Arctic is rapidly changing, and for Canadian landscape painter Cory Trépanier, documenting that fact in his own unique style has become a lifelong mission. Since 2006, Cory has taken four trips into the furthest reaches of northern Canada, with a backpack full of camping, painting and filming gear. Traversing over 40,000 kilometres, through six Arctic national parks and 16 communities, he has travelled by foot, plane, helicopter, ship, boat and canoe to immerse himself in his subject. Over ten years later, Cory is still visiting the vast, untamed region to do on-site oil paintings, and a new exhibition showcasing the project is touring the world now.
Cory Trépanier has spent over ten years painting the Canadian Arctic. Image by Cory Trépanier
Called Into The Arctic, the exhibition premiered at the Embassy of Canada in Washington D.C in January 2017, before having its Canadian premiere in Vancouver in 2018. It’s gearing up for its European premiere in Monaco in early 2020, at the invitation of the Prince Albert II Foundation. It includes a collection of over 50 Arctic oil paintings as well as three films from separate trips to the region. Highlighting the collection is the 15-foot wide Great Glacier, which Cory believes is one of the largest Arctic landscape paintings in Canada’s history.
“I was inspired to search for the wildest and most untouched landscapes in my backyard. Unlike photography, painting allows me to explore my visions for weeks, months, and sometimes even years at a time. Each paint stroke is a tangible, personal, individual and permanent mark, that may be around still in the centuries ahead. Painting allows me to push beyond a single moment and explore on canvas the emotions I experienced in the field,” Cory told Lonely Planet Travel News.
The map of Cory’s expeditions across the region. Image by Cory Trépanier
As can be expected, travelling through the Arctic with painting and filming equipment can be a challenge. At its heaviest, Cory’s gear weighed up to 120 lbs, which he carried for ten days hiking on Ellesmere Island in the Baffin region, and when it comes to actually doing the painting, Cory can face raging winds, chilling temperatures and hungry mosquitoes.
The Into The Arctic premier at Washington D.C. Image by Cory Trépanier
According to Cory however, the challenge is very much worth it. “The Arctic is truly a place of endless wonder. Travelling into its more remote and wild regions can be extremely humbling. But it is through that process that one can connect more deeply with the awe that awaits. To see my work inspire conversation and interest in its changes, the Inuit who call it home, and about the power of nature and the importance of humanity’s role in protecting it, I couldn’t ask for more,” he said.
Painting an iceberg from a canoe. Image by Cory Trépanier
Last October, Cory was flown to Iceland by the Embassy of Canada to screen Into The Arctic 3 at the Arctic Circle Assembly, the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. The event saw heads of states, officials, ministers, scientists, indigenous representatives, and environmentalists discussing the future of the Arctic.
More of Cory’s work is available at his official website.
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