Artist Statement

My recent works were created to honour three important women: my great grandmother, Éléanore, born on a buffalo hunt, an itinerant midwife who delivered hundreds of babies in Métis households on the Northern Great Plains; my grandmother, Clémence, who was raised on a trading post, worked as a Michif-French-English interpreter but who fiercely denied her Indigenous ancestry to protect her 15 children; and my naturalist mother, Anita.

Mom’s love of the land, storytelling and quest for historical family documents set the stage for my generation to reclaim our Métis heritage.

I produce my art using two innovative, photo-based techniques thatI invented. These techniques mirror the spectacular beading and quillwork my ancestors used to embellish clothing and gear. Like traditional Métis art forms, they are meticulous, technically demanding and time-consuming practices.

In a nod to my family’s seasonal harvesting rituals, I begin each new work by collecting, sorting, and then “preserving” plant material and porcupine quills as high-resolution digital images. I then use these images to make 2D and 3D works on paper and textiles that reclaim parts of our family history, celebrate plants and animals as kin, and bridge the gap between Indigenous and Western science.

Although I accept invitations for exhibitions, I am not content to simply show my work. I am passionate about community engagement. This is why I always invite diverse groups of people who would not normally come into a gallery or museum to participate in tours and collective art-making workshops related to the exhibitions. My goal is to harness the power of art, break down barriers, and raise awareness of our story and of contemporary realities.

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