Power Up: Angelene Humphrey

Photo: Vanessa Tignanelli

“There’s something in the water!”

It’s the theme of Up Here 6, and it’s what Sasha is yelling from the side of her hydro box in Silver Hills.

Sasha is a real little girl, the daughter of OCAD-U-trained artist, and former Torontonian, Angele Humphrey, who painted this particular box. Angelene’s younger daughter, Charlotte, makes an appearance on another side, whimsically perched astride a long, spotted northern pike.

When Angelene Humphrey and her husband Charles moved to Sudbury in 2015, they had a nine-day-old baby (Sasha) and thought Sudbury might be a good stepping stone to somewhere else.

Over the next five years, she and her family found themselves falling slowly in love with the city.

With this piece, Angelene and her family have literally left their mark here. It manages to pack powerful commentary into its four sides: it’s reference to the local love for the outdoors and a surreal ode to the magical and mythical possibilities of treasure waiting to be found. At the same time, there’s a deeper (haha) meaning behind it all: a criticism of consumerism and a call to protect the natural environment, to stop poisoning the water.

Photos by Vanessa Tignanelli

An artist from a young age, Angelene started with finger painting and chalk drawings. Her musician mother encouraged her and in school she was the go-to person to do the art for group projects. Over time, she became enamored by the possibility of sharing a narrative that can’t be put into words using visual means.

Angelene painted her hydro box with a narrative theme of appreciation mixed with caution: for clean water to swim in, fish we can eat, and the freedom of childhood to dream and believe in magic and the possibility of riding on a magic fish.

Angelene painted her hydro box with a narrative theme of appreciation mixed with caution: for clean water to swim in, fish we can eat, and the freedom of childhood to dream and believe in magic and the possibility of riding on a magic fish.