After creating Shattered basin, fired thing for the Thunder Bay Art Gallery I wanted to build another screen from clay and roots, but in an outdoor space where I had more time to weave the roots and build with the clay. Working in the yard where I lived in Searchmont, Ontario I welded a steel frame on which to weave the roots.
Onto the screen I projected my own film along with those of a number of artists whose works are quite important to me. The artists whose work were projected on the screen include: Trixx Kai Yodi (Shiprock), a Navajo musician I met by chance when I stopped at Tsé Bitʼaʼí on my way to the Shiprock uranium tailings in 2018. Kim Kitchen (North Bay), whom I’ve known and collaborated with since our time at White Mountain Academy of the Arts. Marek Pluccienik (Helsinki), who I met in Iceland, and who travelled here to deliver a 16mm workshop in 2019. Elnaz Mansouri, and Iranian Canadian artist who I met while in residence in Iceland. Bonnie Devine whose film Rooster Rock the Story of Serpent River has long been incredibly impactful to me. Katie Huckson who was a former student and now colleague at Algoma University as well as Annie King who is also a colleague at Algoma U. Local videographer Dan Nystead documented the projections and created a short trailer for the full project below. George Ravlich from Crank Sound Distribution projected the films onto the screen.
The screen was a site for a quasi film festival for the land. I am interested in how the screen connected with these images, and the series of films that reflect upon each of our relationships to land, to the land where I am living and the materiality of the clay. The full film is forthcoming.
Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for supporting this project.
Onto the screen I projected my own film along with those of a number of artists whose works are quite important to me. The artists whose work were projected on the screen include: Trixx Kai Yodi (Shiprock), a Navajo musician I met by chance when I stopped at Tsé Bitʼaʼí on my way to the Shiprock uranium tailings in 2018. Kim Kitchen (North Bay), whom I’ve known and collaborated with since our time at White Mountain Academy of the Arts. Marek Pluccienik (Helsinki), who I met in Iceland, and who travelled here to deliver a 16mm workshop in 2019. Elnaz Mansouri, and Iranian Canadian artist who I met while in residence in Iceland. Bonnie Devine whose film Rooster Rock the Story of Serpent River has long been incredibly impactful to me. Katie Huckson who was a former student and now colleague at Algoma University as well as Annie King who is also a colleague at Algoma U. Local videographer Dan Nystead documented the projections and created a short trailer for the full project below. George Ravlich from Crank Sound Distribution projected the films onto the screen.
The screen was a site for a quasi film festival for the land. I am interested in how the screen connected with these images, and the series of films that reflect upon each of our relationships to land, to the land where I am living and the materiality of the clay. The full film is forthcoming.
Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for supporting this project.
Woven screen before adding the clay
Chickens like to be involved with adding the clay
Cats prefer weaving
Spruce and pine roots collected for weaving