September 2025 – August 2027

Mary Whale: Between the Lines is a solo exhibition that showcases expressive portraits of older adults and celebrates the beauty of ageing through Mary Whale’s compelling and elegantly executed watercolours. 

Mary Whale has been engaging older adults for portrait sittings for over twenty years as both a visual artist and a gerontologic nurse. What began as an extension of her interest in watercolour portraits evolved into an exploration of a unique interviewing and portrait sitting process that evokes reminiscence and reflection. Many of the sitters were encouraged to contemplate a quote from Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forwards,” in which some sitters engaged while others simply reflected freely and shared their life experiences. With permission, Mary recorded the dialogue of each sitting and worked with a writer (Laurel Sproule) who transcribed the recordings into individual stories and autobiographies that are included alongside the artworks in this exhibition. 

Mary has researched elder psychology, narrative therapy, different ways of knowing, ageism and guided autobiography – and as her work reveals, aging is much more than just a physical change that occurs through time. This series of watercolours seeks to highlight what’s ‘between the lines’ in an understanding of aging as an ongoing social, cultural and biological phenomenon.

Curated by Ash Slemming
Touring from the Alberta Society of Artists, TREX Southwest

Mary Whale grew up on a small acreage just outside of Edmonton. She later acquired degrees in the arts and nursing at the University of Alberta, traveled the world, and gave birth to three daughters, the latter of which was truly life-altering. Mary has been both a practicing artist and nurse for most of her adult life. She has found them to be mutually rewarding professions with intersecting and permeable boundaries – informing each other in subtle ways. Mary expresses herself through the direct and personal connection of commission pieces, which helps build her studio portfolio. Most recently, she has been exploring the therapeutic potential of the portraiture process, specifically as it applies to the latter part of life and the ageing aesthetic. She has participated in the “Artists on the Wards” program at the University of Alberta Hospital, and is a current member in the Alberta Society of Artists, the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, and the Federation of Canadian Artists. 

mwhaledesign.com