I am a Métis installation artist.  My family is from Mackinac Island and I am currently working on a detailed family tree to illustrate the movements of these Métis families.  I am a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario.

I have been traveling Canada creating site specific art installations at residential school historical sites, cultural centres, museums, art galleries and other public spaces since July 23, 2021.  The goal of this project  is to broach the subject of decolonization with viewers and staff of spaces such as yours who may be in the midst of this difficult process.

The installations are created with large premade crochet, woven and knit pieces made with various red yarns.  These are created both inside and outside and weather the elements quite successfully. The installations can be in place for as long as the venue would like but the contract is generally for three months.  Once dismantled the work itself will be returned to me and it will be reworked and repurposed at another site somewhere else in the country. 

Many (but not all)  of these Canadian public spaces serve to present a colonial viewpoint and primarily speak about the settlers who arrived and lived here but not the Indigenous people that were displaced along the way.  The decolonization of such places is a ponderous task and must be shouldered collectively.  The discussion of reconciliation and decolonization is hard to start and harder still to maintain.  The recognition of the generational trauma of  Residential Schools and the kidnapped children who resided within them is also always on my mind when installing this project.  

With all of this in mind, I am hoping to use my work to help bridge the gap between settlers and First Nation, Métis and Inuit people by creating art that is approachable and non-confrontational so we can start.  As I am both Métis and European I am conscious of the privilege my 'whiteness' affords me and bridging this gap is in fact a form of self education and self healing.   I have entitled this body of work #hopeandhealingcanada .

Since July 23, 2021 I have created more than 100 installations across Canada.  

I will be scheduling to work in geographical areas in blocks of time by coordinating with venues as I move forward with the project until the end of 2026.

We all need to begin this conversation.  If not now.  When?