The next show in the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery promises to be a treat. Vijen Vijendren is a retired art teacher, whose resume includes nine years at the Royal Palace in Brunei. He was also an elementary school teacher serving First Nations communities in Northern Alberta. ‘My Life in Three Chapters’ is his artistic autobiography, covering the period from his time abroad to settling on Cortes Island.

“I’m absolutely blessed to have people around me who I love and who care for me, plus the fact that I’m here. How many opportunities can you have in life to be in paradise? In my mind, it’s paradise. Some people think, ‘oh, geez, you’re way out in the boonies,’ but this boonie is nothing compared to where I’ve been – out in the bush with 16 kilometres of dirt logging road, and it’s minus 600 c. This is wonderful. I’ve been blessed. I have a beautiful wife who loves me, and who I love. Family and friends, this  place, and I have two lovely dogs too – I’m very fortunate,” he explained. 

Vijen was born in Malaysia and came to Ontario as a student in 1978.

VV: “I was supposed to go to medical school. I didn’t like the idea of doing that, so I studied philosophy and fine arts.” 

CC: How long have you been an artist? 

VV: “Even before university, back in the 70s, I attended Laureate to study fine arts, philosophy and pursue a career in graphics, probably design. Then with the economy as it was, I had to look for a job and I just lucked into being hired to teach art.” 

CC: Tell me about the first chapter in your life and how that comes into your art. 

VV: “I did a big painting when I was working in Brunei. It’s four by eight feet on plywood, and it’s all to do with my life story. It is about my travels, events, and things that happened to me. The ball started rolling from that point onwards to where I am today.” 

“We started back in the late 1990s. We were hired as teachers in Brunei. My wife was hired as a teacher in home economics and business, and I was hired as an art teacher to a particular school that catered towards students who are going to British A levels, and then heading to university.

I was hired for that, and then esconded to the palace to teach the children art. That’s what I was doing for nine years.” 

“Living abroad in Brunei was quite similar to Malaysia, except it’s much more subdued. It was a man’s world in Brunei, and it was tough for my wife, but we survived.” 

“It gave us a different perspective about the world. Living in a Muslim state helped to open up my mind to appreciate the freedom that we have back in Canada. The value that we place on life in Canada, or in the Western society, far outweighs the material wealth. That’s something that I really do appreciate. Every time I came back to Canada, I’d be kissing the ground thinking, ‘Thank you for the freedom.’” 

CC: Is there anything you appreciated about Brunei? 

VV: “The people; the culture. One thing about Brunei is that they welcome you, regardless of who you are. You can go to somebody’s house without having to make an appointment or anything. You just drop in, say ‘hi’ and they appreciate that. They’re very open people. The kids I was teaching were the best that I’ve taught. I’ve never seen more respect for teachers, ever, anywhere in the world. Teachers have been placed next to God, because we are the ones who educate the future of that generation. 

CC: The second chapter is transitional: returning to Canada, finding a home. 

VV: “Chapter two is the big one. It’s my life story and it depicts all the events that happened in my travels after working in Brunei and coming back to Canada in 2008. I couldn’t find work in the arts, so I got a job teaching grades 4 to 6 in general subjects until I retired last year.”

“I’ve been teaching mostly in First Nation communities. That’s by choice, we have been offered somewhere else, but I’m not a city person. That’s the bottom line, I love the isolation. That was something difficult for my wife because she’s from Toronto. We bought the place here in Whaletown in 2010, but we’ve been commuting back and forth until she retired and I took an early retirement last year. We have lived on Cortes ever since, we’re full timers now.” 

CC: Why Cortes? 

VV: “We bought a beat up motorhome in 2009 and decided to travel across Canada looking for a place to call home. We ended up going to the East Coast, saw a place up in Cape Breton, but didn’t have the feel for it. In the following year, 2010, we came to the West Coast.” 

They were camped out at Rebecca Spit, on Quadra Island, when Vijen looked across to the neighbouring island. 

 “That was about 7:30 AM. I was just sitting outside looking .at the island and I happened to come across one of the locals, a First Nations man, and asked him, ‘what’s that island’ 

“He said, ‘Well, that’s Cortes.” 

“What’s on Cortes?” 

“Nothing much. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t.” 

“Oh, is there a ferry?

“Yep.”

Vijen started packing.   

“My wife was still in bed. All she could hear was this banging, removing a tent and everything.” 

“So she’s asking me, ‘What are you doing?’” 

“I said, ‘We’re going over there.’” 

“Where?” 

“That island there, Cortes.” 

“What for?” 

“Oh, just to have a look. If we don’t like it, we’ll come back in the evening.”

“So we got on to the ferry, went around the whole island, and stopped at Manson’s for lunch.” 

They drove back through Squirrel Cove, and just as they were passing Blue Jay Farm, their brakes seized up. 

“The RV was going faster and faster and faster. I put it in the lowest gear, but I didn’t have any brakes. She was sitting at the back in the RV, reading, and said ‘what’s wrong?’ She could see the veins the veins throbbing in my forehead, came running up to the front and prayed, ‘God, whatever he wants, give it to him. Just take us safely home.’” 

Their vehicle came to a flat place and stopped. 

VV: “The brakes overheated, that’s what it was. So about an hour later, I started driving.”

“I saw online, there was a property for sale at the Gorge. I said, ‘Oh, let’s swing by, just have a look.’ I fell in love with the place. I really did. She didn’t, but I did. Anyway, it was supposed to be a day trip. We ended up staying for two weeks on the island, and then made an offer to buy this place. We flew back to Alberta. Then our offer was accepted, and that was it. She wasn’t a happy camper. No, she wasn’t, not one bit, but now she has fallen in love with Cortes. She’s happy to be here and now I’m thrilled.” 

Their principal residence for more than a decade was still in Alberta.

VV: “Living in Northern Alberta with First Nation has a lot of influence in some of my work. I’ve lost quite a number of pieces of artwork and sculptures, especially with some moose antlers and all that. We had a flood. We were back here in Cortes during the summer school holidays, and got a phone call from a friend who was looking after my place. 

“He said, ‘Listen, your basement seems to have a swimming pool.’” 

“I said, ‘what are you talking about?’” 

“‘Well, it’s under about five feet of water.’”

“The basement was completely flooded. The water heater burst.

I lost all my artwork, my prints, and my paintings, my sculptures, and everything is all gone, because it was covered in mold. I’ve lost most of my work that had a lot of connections to the First Nations. I’ve only saved a few, and I started rebuilding them.” 

“That’s what you’ll see in the relief artwork that has a lot of aboriginal themes from all over the world, particularly in Canada. You see an Inuit hunter standing, looking through a blowhole over the heads of two polar bears. Looking down at the whole entire world and all the things that are happening.” 

CC: The third chapter is Cortes, Home, and Belonging, how do these themes appear in your work?

VV: “There are about three or four pieces that relate to reflective moments. Instead of doing a very abstract, very time consuming work, it looks very simplified, but it means a lot to me. One in particular is Crossroads and Paths. It’s all lines, zigzags and so forth. It’s very abstract, more like a  plastering of origamis: folding and unfolding things. Those lines indicate to me my lifeline. We all come to T junctions in life. You turn left, or you turn right. That’s what these particular paintings are about, but it’s all representative in terms of lines.” 

“Coming here full time, I started doing a different style of work. It’s much more subtle, softer, because Cortes is very gentle. It’s brutal at times, but the brutality is not as severe as what I’ve experienced in other places.”

“I find this very comfortable. So in most of my paintings, I have a different perspective. I’m not that critical anymore. I’m much more ‘taking it with a grain of salt’ kind of thing now, and ‘go along with the flow.’ Cortes has a lot to do with it.”

“Belonging? – yes, working on the land. We take things for granted. Getting firewood for the winter, stocking them up, making sure everything is running functionally well, and looking after your homestead, and then taking time and enjoying it. I’m surrounded by magnificent trees and the sea. When the tide comes in, you get the water and the sea salt. It’s great. It’s wonderful. All these things I’ve taken for granted most of my life, I’m much more appreciative of it now.”

You have been reading an interview with Vijen Vijendren, whose exhibit ‘My Life in three chapters’ opens in the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery at 6 PM this evening. The show can be seen Fridays, from 6 and 9 PM, and between 2 and 6 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, until August 13.  

All images courtesy Vijen Vijendren.

Sign-up for Cortes Currents email-out:

To receive an emailed catalogue of articles on Cortes Currents, send a (blank) email to subscribe to your desired frequency:

• Daily, (articles posted during the last 24 hours) – cortescurrents-daily+subscribe@cortes.groups.io
• Weekly Digest cortescurrents – cortescurrents-weekly+subscribe@cortes.groups.io