Coming from a dark place

Feb. 10—Sahtu-Métis painter Rick Rivet was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, about 25 miles south of Canada's northern coastline. The sun is nowhere to be seen in January, when the average high is -8.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

Both the region and its Native traditions are present in Rivet's work, which he describes as the result of "combining and re-interpreting the iconography of various aboriginal peoples in a contemporary perspective." Series of his work bear titles such as Northwest Passage and Franklin Expedition, the latter a reference to a failed British exploration of the Canadian Arctic in 1845. Another series, Beothuk Mound, addresses the genocide of the Indigenous Beothuk people who lived in what's now Newfoundland. Rick Rivet: Journeys, Mounds and the Metaphysical features Rivet's artworks from the past 30 years.

Opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, through July 2, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place, 505-428-5912, iaia.edu/mocna