September 3 to October 2, 2010 Canadian Muscle Caleb Speller Opening Friday, September 3, 7pm Once upon a time, there were factories in Canada that made thousands of useful things. Nails, stamp pads, pencils, batteries, hand salve, doorknobs, records—you name it, chances are we made it. Made in Canada was stamped on each of these products; a certain pride contained in those three words. Canadian Muscle is a series of drawings which document this disappeared do-it-ourselves, keep-it-in-Canada attitude. Each drawing represents a unique piece of industrial and creative patriotism that gave jobs to countless Canadians. This spirit of self-reliance is enjoying a renaissance, with locally farmed produce, local craftsmen/artisans and domestic industry promoted and appreciated. The only way to further this trend is to seek out available alternatives to foreign imports and demand Canadian. Caleb Speller was born in Victoria, BC. His artwork explores themes such as cultural inheritance, objects and imagery as recorders of time, material attachment and visual narration. Speller sees his artwork as a partially written book made with missing pages from other books. He shows his work at various venues in Victoria, Vancouver and Portland.