Artist Statement
I am a settler artist working on Treaty 7 territory, the traditional territory of the Niitsitapi, (Blackfoot), Nakoda (Stoney), and Tsuut'ina First Nations. My work encompasses a variety of ideas and processes that emerge from contemplations on nature, natural phenomenon and the conceptual associations between culture and nature. To this extent my practice may involve collaborations with scientists, creating site-specific interventions, installation, sculpture, printmaking, photography, or any medium to realize an idea.
The process of being in the landscape is central to my practice and is the testing ground for my work, it allows me to experiment with new materials, learn new processes and to guide the work I make. Most of the materials that I use in my work are gleaned from the landscape. I am drawn to using natural materials in my practice because I want to bring attention to our natural world and for us to look at it in new ways. I find natural materials like wood bring about a calming, contemplative and healing presence to the the gallery space and I am interested in how context can alter how we view an object. When I create an outdoor ephemeral site-specific intervention in the landscape I try to enhance one’s experience of place through the various forms the materials can embody in relation to the surrounding space. Upon completion of the work, I will document it and then the work is left to devolve back into the environment, overtime leaving little or no trace the work was ever there. In this way the work is sustainable, leaving almost no carbon footprint and reflects the reality that things are in a state of constant change and are impermanent.
Through a variety of forms of expression, gestures and responses I seek to bring nature to the forefront of our experiences. I intend to create opportunities that allow us to deepen our understanding about the natural world and to question our role in it.