Elbows Up 🔴

Keitha McClocklin

Mixed media on cradled panel

24" x 24"

Artist Statement:

McClocklin’s text-based paintings merge the bold energy of Pop Art with playful language to celebrate distinctly Canadian expressions and everyday sayings. This year ‘Elbows Up,’ joins ‘Double Double’ and ‘Bunnyhug.’ Each work combines colour, typography, and imagery to highlight the humour, quirks, and cultural touchstones embedded in our language, turning familiar phrases into lively, engaging visual experiences. Drawing on the long history of text in painting, from early 20th-century modernists to the graphic interventions of Pop and Conceptual artists, McClocklin continues this lineage by using words to entertain, provoke, and invite reflection. With her text paintings, she explores the dynamic intersection of word and image, creating works that are bold, fun, and unapologetically Canadian.

(Text within the painting: “Elbows Up is a phrase of Canadian origin, derived from hockey, that means to be ready to defend one’s position and stand up to aggression rather than backing down. It symbolizes strength, determination and national pride, acting as a rallying cry for Canadians to protect their values and sovereignty when challenged. Canadian actor Mike Myers, wearing a ‘Canada is Not for Sale’ t-shirt, twice mouthed ‘Elbows Up’ and tapped his own left elbow on Saturday Night Live on March 1st 2025 during the closing credits. #elbowsup”