Dream bodies is a series of surrealist self portraits that I started in 2019 and continue to work on to this day.
The work explores the connection between dreams, emotions, our bodies and nature. We are fundamentally naturally beings: we are animals, we come from the earth and we return to the earth. In our waking lives we separate ourselves from our natural urges and instincts to fit in. In our dreams we can truly be free to connect back to our true and natural selves. The fears, desires, hopes, wants and impulses that are all a part of being a part of nature being can be fully lived without consequence and restraint. Our dreams provide a subconscious bridge to our baser selves.
I use the self portrait because when I dream because despite who or what I may be dreaming about, I am the experiencer. When I am killed in my dreams, I am killing myself. When I have sex in my dreams, it is sex with myself. If I am afraid in my dreams, I am afraid of myself, regardless of the form the nightmare takes. I try to use imagery that is personal, while touching on themes that are universal.
The series continues to grow and evolve. Bringing in a variety of materials and mediums to create, I learn something new with each one. I enjoy exploring the process as much as the ideas, and approach their creation with an openness that invites inspiration and experimentation, much like dreams themselves. :)
Beginning September 2018, I have been employed as the Heritage Community Center’s artist in resident. For one year I will be working with the center, and the community, to design and execute a series of workshops, community connections, and eventually murals. I am very excited to be a part of this project and look forward to what the next year will bring!
I had a dream.
In the dream I was walking and there were dead birds all around my feet. I picked one up and its body was still limp. The birds were beneath my bare toes and I could feel the silk of the feathers, and the crunch of the bones.
The dream lingered with me that morning. Later, I went downstairs to my studio, and under my easel was the body of a dead bird. I have consequently spent the last few months painting and drawing birds. Lots of different kinds of birds, but mostly black birds.
Sometimes I make things just for fun. One hour portraits, sketches, practices, gifts, or just goofing around… The best inspiration comes from trying something new, or not being afraid to mess it up.
During the summer of 2018, I was employed by the First Nations University of Canada as a summer artist researcher. I was part of a team of seven people that would research, design, collaborate, and create 14 tipi liners as part of an instillation project / memorial. The theme was Education, and we decided to create a timeline of Indigenous education from pre-contact to modern times. Of course there would be references to residential schools, making this project difficult to navigate emotionally and sensitively. I am very proud of the work that we were able to create together, inspiring each other along the way.
We collaborated on the largest tipi, the memorial for those that have gone before us, both in life and in leadership, and worked individually on the remaining ones. My tipis were “Living Knowledge” and “Paradigm shifts”.
Here is a small write up from the local paper (that I am not mentioned in! Even though I gave a speech at the opening haha)
And another write up from APTN (That I am also not credited in!)
Some process pics of the experience and finished works to follow!
Some of my abstract works. I have this love of tiny, torturous work. The patterns, and constraint of colours takes me to a sort of zen space where the paintings sort of create themselves.
These paintings were part of my residency for Sakewewak’s InRez 2016: The next 150 project.
The question, that coincided with Canada’s 150th birthday, was “where will First Nations people be 150 years from now?”
Using inspiration from some of my favorite things, such as old movies, and retro-futurism, I sort of took the question for face value, and decided to have a little fun with it. Referencing old, stereotypical poses and portraiture of paintings and depictions of Indigenous people from the past, and re-contextualizing them for the future, in a sort of tongue in cheek way. I also tried to answer questions I had such as, when the colonized become the colonizers, what would change? Do we repeat history, or use it to influence change? Will we carry forward our problems, or propel past them?
I think for most people, myself included, the piece, “Left Behind” stands out as the most successful at asking these questions. A lone, female astronaut floats in space, disconnected from her ship that can be seen (in an adjoining set of paintings) flying away from her.
All pieces are for sale. If interested, please contact me!
Mixing paint with resin, I have been making these very fun, bright poured acrylic paintings. I really enjoy playing with the colours, and the layering. It also helps me add an additional dimension to the portraits I have have been working on. I feel a bit like a scientist in the studio, trying new techniques, new mixes, performing experiments to get the texture and effects I am looking for. Some of these were created during my Residency for the Regina Public Library.
Some of the design work Ive done over the years. A lot of it for Sakewewak