What attracted me the most to the works of Joyce Wieland is how they're reminiscent of the popular TV show, The Simpsons, critiquing the problems of a nation in such a witty and ready-to-swallow form. Yet it was this feminist punch that underlay these political advocations throughout her films that truly struck the apple of my eye. A painter, sculptor, quilt-maker and film-maker, Toronto-born-and-raised Wieland was the first female artist to challenge the male-dominated art world of the '50s and '60s, eventually becoming one of the country's most productive and acclaimed artists, the first female ever to be recognized with a solo exhibit at the National Gallery during her lifetime. Having suffered an unfortunate childhood---she was 7 when her father died and 10 when she lost her mother -her art was surprisingly joyous, but not without an irreverent edge. As an experimental film-maker, Wieland was a ceaseless innovator. In 1963, Wieland moved to New York City to join the Structuralist filmmakers and there she lived an unconventional life with her husband, the well-known artist, Michael Snow making experimental films. In Rat Life and Diet in North America (1968), she cast her pet gerbils as American draft dodgers who take up organic gardening.…
