Making Stories (Artist's Statement)

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As both artist and cultural historian, I am drawn to the stories and artistic legacy of Indigenous women, particularly those I am descended from. I have always liked stories, and as long as I can remember they took visual form as I listened, sometimes half asleep and on the verge of dreaming. Two incidents triggered the female-centered direction my artwork has taken. One motivated me to pick up my paintbrushes after a long hiatus. As a working single mother, I had stopped making art. I was teaching at the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program. The students had organized a conference, and one of the presenters was Shannon Two Feathers. I snuck into the back of the classroom and listened to Shannon share the stories he had collected from elders at Batoche. (1) Shannon was a professional entertainer and one hell of a story teller. One particular story, of women and children hiding in caves along the Saskatchewan River while a Gatling gun peppered the shoreline with bullets, transported me to another time and place. I went home, dug around in a box in the basement for a box of watercolors, and painted. I have painted that story four times. From that time until the present I have worked with Metis, Cree, and Anishnabe authors and painted their stories. I try to communicate my love and respect through the images. Stories of the Road Allowance, collected and translated by Maria Campbell, is a project that I was very proud to illustrate. (2) Alternately hilarious and …