Nelson White: Preview
Presented by Eastern Edge and First Light for Spirit Song Festival
In collaboration with First Light, Eastern Edge is pleased to present Preview, an exhibition by Nelson White, as a part of Spirit Song Festival 2026! We will be holding an opening reception for Preview in our gallery space on October 16th from 6-8pm. We hope you will join us to enjoy great art, great company, and yummy snacks and refreshments! Click here to RSVP to the Facebook event.
Nelson White, “The Proposal”
Preview is a mix of new along with some older pieces from Indigenous artist Nelson White.
Representation is paramount to White’s works. With each colourful canvas, he considers the complexity of representing someone both as they see themselves and how they are seen. The new collection serves as a poignant insertion of Indigenous histories into the historically Western art form of portrait painting, where Indigenous subjects have been marginalized, misrepresented, or entirely absent. White’s practice is situated within a broader movement of contemporary artists who are working with figuration to redefine traditional portraiture today.
With 4 committed exhibitions from February to August 2027, White is producing new work on a regular basis. The work is about home through the gaze of portraiture and figurative work. It’s family, it’s kin, it’s about place, and your place informs you. Representation is changing and important.
Nelson White would like to thank First Light and Eastern Edge.
Nelson White is an artist and member of the Flat Bay First Nation Band (No’kmaq Village) in Flat Bay, Newfoundland. Canada.
Nelson attended the Visual Arts program at the Bay St. George Community College in Stephenville, NL and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, NS.
Nelson exhibits throughout Canada and the US in both group and solo touring shows such as Tukien (Awaken) which toured five institutional galleries.
His work has been featured on CBC’s The National and in Visual Arts News. His paintings are collected across North America, including the Provincial Government art collections of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, The Canada Arts Council and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
In 2021 White participated in the Fogo Island Arts International Residency and in 2022, a residency with Ocean Gate and Miawpukek Horizon that took him on an expedition to the Titanic wreck site. In 2026 he was Artist in Residence at the Beaverbrook art Gallery in New Brunswick.
He was named ArtsNL Artist of the Year for 2020 and winner of the 2022 VANL-CARFAC Excellence in Visual Arts Milestone Award. In 2025, Nelson was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award, was a finalist for the Kingston Prize and was winner of the ArtsNL Artist Achievement Award.
Nelson currently lives in St. John’s, NL with his family.
Spirit Song is a celebration of Indigenous Arts and Culture that has been running annually in St. John’s since 2013. Spirit Song has now grown into a multi-day event which boasts world class performances, traditional and contemporary knowledge sharing events as well as artist in residence series. The festival is enjoyed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences alike. Spirit Song aims to support and promote Indigenous artists, strengthen our sense of community, as well as provide an opportunity for the greater public to experience the incredible work created by Indigenous artists from across Canada.
Click here to read more about Spirit Song, and stay tuned for festival updates!