Artist Cory Trépanier’s journey to the Yukon’s Kluane National Park & Reserve is a month of awe and wonder in 22,000 sq kilometers of raw Canadian wilderness. He skies and camps in the Icefield Ranges of Kluane at 10,000ft, part of the largest non-polar ice field on earth, and sets up his easel where few, if any, have ever done so before. Then it’s a punishing hike along the Donjek Route, canoeing on Mush and Bates Lakes, and rafting down the Alsek River to the glacier strewn Lowell Lake. Through it all, Cory pulls his easel from his pack, straps his canvas to it and captures dramatic landscapes that will leave you breathless.
TrueWild: A Legacy for the National Parks is artist Cory Trépanier’s new multi-year wilderness legacy project to creatively engage – through fine art, films, online content, mainstream media, public speaking and more – millions of people in the years to come with Canada’s spectacular wild places.
FILM SYNOPSIS:
It begins with an encounter with majestic Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada, and ends a month later with an epic icy encounter.
Artist Cory Trépanier’s journey to the Yukon’s Kluane National Park & Reserve is a month of awe and wonder in 22,000 sq kilometers of raw Canadian wilderness.
He skies and camps on the Icefields Ranges of Kluane at 10,000ft elevation, part of the largest non-polar ice field in the world and sets up his easel where few, if any, have ever done so before.
Then its a punishing hike along the Donjek Route, canoeing on Mush and Bates Lakes, and rafting down the Alsek River to the glacier strewn Lowell Lake.
Through it all, Cory pulls his easel from his pack, straps his canvas to it, and with his oils, captures the scenes that inspire him most.
This leads to the greatest challenge of the journey. Of the myriad of overwhelming vistas Cory encounters, which will become the “Legacy” painting? A huge 8-10 foot painting, that will take months back at his studio to complete, and will encapsulate this dramatic landscape. A painting that for generations to come will hopefully connect and inspire others with Kluane’s wild wonders.
Watch the the 23 minute online film Cory created for Parks Canada here.
“Logan”, (study), 16″ x 5″, oil on linen
Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain. Began on location at 10,000 ft elevation on the ice fields of Kluane National Park & Reserve, Yukon Canada
“Logan” is it. My study for my first 8-10 foot wide TrueWild Legacy painting. One of the biggest aspirations of my TrueWild project, in addition to finding incredible, majestic landscapes during month-long painting/filming expeditions into some of Canada’s grandest wilderness National Parks, creating new paintings and films and sharing the experience with others… is to find that one majestic view on each journey that rises above them all, combining the visceral experience of being in a truly wild place with creative breathlessness, and taking it all onto a huge canvas.
Though I had many choices in Kluane National Park, it was THIS VISTA that had it all for me. Sublime evening light on Mount Logan, the biggest mountain in Canada, soaked in while standing at my easel on 13 feet of snow over top of a kilometre plus layer of ice on a spectacular calm ice field evening at 10,000 ft in the largest non-polar ice field on earth. Need I say more? – Cory
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