Writing Selfhood

Emily Carr, Lawren Harris, and their "Great Canadian West"

Abstract

As one of Canada's most recognized painters, Emily Carr has elicited widespread recognition in relation to Canadian national identity. Her writing and artwork reflect modernist conceptions of Romantic wilderness spaces, which was foundational to her status as an artist. Carr's autobiography Growing Pains depicts her efforts to acheive artistic recognition by establishing a narrative centered around Western Canadian landscapes, where she recognizes painter and Group of Seven member, Lawren Harris, as integral to her artistic development. Harris' letters to Carr, as included in her autobiography, affirm his aesthetic contributions to her artwork. However, Carr's decisions to use excerpts of his letters suggest her paradoxical stance in relation to asserting her identity as an artist.