NSCAD alumna and visual artist Letitia Fraser uses painting and textiles to create multidimensional portraits of her family and North Preston Community.
Letitia Fraser (BFA 2019) is a Halifax-based interdisciplinary artist known for her engaging portraits of her family and members of her community in North Preston. She combines painting with textiles to create multi-dimensional portraits that show not just the person’s likeness, but how each person makes her feel.
Fraser has always been motivated to capture her personal perspective as an African Nova Scotian woman. She gathers inspiration from old family photos as well as using models to pose. She combines paint with textiles to add meaning and convey emotion with each portrait.
“My passion is to capture and honour important people in my life so others can see them through my eyes and understand how significant they are to me and to my community. It’s how we should be viewed and who we really are.”
From an early age, Letitia Fraser knew she wanted to go to NSCAD. She admired that her uncle attended NSCAD when he was young and dreamed of going herself. Her mother saw she had a passion for arts, so she put her in classes to learn beading, ceramics and drawing.
“I always admired my uncle and his creative work. He was my introduction to Fine Art. My mother made sure to fan the flame, keeping my creativity alive in my youth. I learned early on that I could draw well, so going to NSCAD was always a goal of mine.”
Fraser was accepted to NSCAD for her drawings and chose to major in interdisciplinary studies. She started with drawing but soon moved on to learn Oil Painting and Ceramics.
“When I arrived, it was like my mind was in a box when it came to being an artist.” Letitia remembers. “NSCAD taught me there is no box. You start with an idea and then you can express it through all kinds of creative media and methods. It’s all about getting your idea out to the world.”
Fraser remembers an instructor who taught her how to make darker skin tones look richer. “That really fueled my fire. Once I learned that, I saw what was possible for portrait artists who focus on painting black figures. When another student of African descent saw the colours I was using, they asking me how it was done. I was grateful to pass on, what I was taught.”
Through her classes, Letitia also learned about the role art history plays to inform creative work in the present. “Seeing how Paris looked in the past through the eyes of artists who lived during that time, made me want to dig deeper into African Nova Scotian history. This helped me fill in and understand the gaps of how my work could communicate what’s important from my perspective.”
My passion was, and continues to be, to represent my community and the important people in my life to the best of my ability.
Letitia remembers her career taking off after graduation. “My passion was, and continues to be, to represent my community and the important people in my life to the best of my ability. So, with my BFA I could go out and do the work I’ve always dreamed of.
“Drawing and painting is natural for me, but the addition of patchwork quilting using different fabrics helps tell a story that brings the subject to life. I was new to sewing quilts, and I took a chance with painting on textiles.”
Fraser started by incorporating used cloth into her work, inspired by her grandmother’s quilting. “She had to be extremely resourceful, and I try to follow in her footsteps. Quilts have been an integral part of the Black North American story. In the Black communities in Nova Scotia, women used quilts as a way to visually express themselves. My grandmothers’ quilts were not only beautiful, but they kept us warm. They protected us.”
Using fabrics in her work is a way of connecting to that resourcefulness. The idea of patchwork is also symbolic when it comes to her community. “Much of my West African culture and history was stolen from my ancestors, and therefore, from me. Using fabric in my work is a way of connecting to my African Nova Scotian culture and exploring my roots.”
Fraser finds her fabrics at thrift stores and through donations. She’s always on the hunt for materials that have a vintage feel or a distinct pattern that is African inspired. Recently she started doing block printing to create her own fabric patterns. She chooses the layout of the quilt based on the essence of the portraits subject. “I start with the figure, then the layout of the quilt and fabric are chosen to help the figure stand out.”
Fraser’s work is about sharing her unique perspective of the impactful people in her community of North Preston, but also her larger African Nova Scotian community.
Her work has been shown with the Portrait Gallery of Canada, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as well as in their permanent collection. Her artwork has been featured in exhibits at the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia, the Freedom Festival Art Exhibit coordinated by the African Nova Scotian Music Association; and several exhibits by the Black Artist Network of Nova Scotia (2014-2019). She also received the Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship, 2018 RBC Emerging Artist Award from Nova Scotia Talent Trust and was recently longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Art Award.
Fraser’s work is featured in Down Home: Portraits of Resilience, a group exhibition at Dalhousie Art Gallery that runs February 6 to April 27, 2025. She is preparing for another group show at Walter Phillips Gallery in Vancouver coming up in June 2025.