develop own website

Shards

nipêkoskopanin ê-kîwêyân “I am awakening as I go home”, 2017
mixed media installation
floor installation 3 ' x 3 ' x 12"

The title of my piece is apt in how this exhibition has impacted my life. The knowledge bestowed upon me has changed how I view the world. Through the empirical process of replicating Indigenous pottery found in Lake Agassiz, I was able to connect to my ancestors. Their pots held important knowledge of their beliefs, how they worked and lived. Through this process, I was ‘awoken’ to how I understand the land, spirituality and ceremony. The ‘going home’ was a poetic statement about embracing Indigenous pottery and my culture.

This installation includes pots that I made using the techniques of my ancestors, sound recordings of a poem I wrote and a video of a community performance I orchestrated at a Nibi (water) Gathering near Bannock Point in Whiteshell, MB. The video starts with the women carrying dried clay pots to a fire pyre. Women are water carriers therefore they collect the clay which is forged from the water and then start the circle. They bring life to the work by shaping and decorating the clay into pots that look like swollen pregnant bellies. The men then take over and start placing wood and birch to the pyre. The men are fire keepers. They collect the wood, build the fire and complete the circle. I wanted this work to be ceremonial The coming together of both women and men and their role in bringing balance to community.