OUSHIES ART

Did You Find What You Were Looking For?

Earlier this year, I had the honor of being an artist in residence at the Similkameen Artist Residency in Keremeos, BC. I acknowledge that my research and creations took place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the syilx Okanagan Nation. I was lucky to have been connected with the Artsy Agers, a group of wonderful women whose hospitality was extended to me, quickly making me a temporary community member. My focus was to learn more about how women create community, how we lift eachother up, and make opportunities for each other. These women donated textiles to me for my art practice, shared their stories with me and welcomed me into their art classes. They were providing me with materials that I was using (literally and figuratively) as the foundation to my artistic practice.

We shared lively discussions about making and sustaining relationships as women. Connecting with the community enriched my knowledge of all the things women make. Layering their delicate textiles, I was stitching and mending the donated fabric to create thicker, stronger surfaces; building a foundation that can withstand wear.

My art practice has a focus on textiles, sustainability, and feminism. pushing me to consider our connection to material objects. Fabrics have a tendency to be fluid and malleable, constantly changing and adjusting. I want to be like textiles.

Major thank you to the Similkameen Artist Residency, Program Coordinator and Artist Alexandra Bischoff, members of the Artsy Agers, and the community.

Thank you to She Said Gallery for providing me the space to show my work in Toronto/Tkaronto. I acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. I am honored to create, work, and study here.

Thank you to the artists, the community, the space, the land, the animals, the river, the mountains, the sky, the city, and all my new friends.