Past Works

“Two-Spirit Transformation Blessing” is a visual manifestation of my Two-Spirit identity. It breaks the colonial narrative of duality and the black and white lines that define gender. The spiritual and physical are both present, not as separate entities but as a whole. My Two-Spirit identity does not exist because of my queerness, be it gender or sexual in nature, it exists because my identity co-habits my spirituality. My spirit does not have a fixed gender. My spirit does not have a fixed sexuality. My name from birth is Raven, through my cultural protocols and indigenous heritage this shaped me as a person, my spiritual ties guided and shaped me as I grew. With the Raven as my guide, I have grown to be a teacher, leader, trickster, and transformer. The figure raises all of its hands up to give thanks and bless the viewer, to lend its proud, loving and defiant power to those who have been unable to connect with those identities and connections that have been lost to colonization.

Unsettled- Queer Arts Festival 2017

(Accompanying speech for Messages on Doors event)

My apologies for not attending in person.

Projects that support artists and indigenous culture developers and leaders are so important. Over the past four months my community has experienced so much death. 

We are a minority because of genocide. And our struggles all tie back to our land being stolen, our people being abused, isolated, and discriminated against. 

We are given half lives because of this, we have health problems due to the medical testing done on our children in residential schools, because of our limited mobility on isolated reserves, living in food deserts, inter generational poverty and systemic discrimination in all levels of government from childcare, to healthcare to murder and abuse by police and RCMP. 

We need to support our cultural artists and leaders, who are under constant threat, and are struggling to make a way through a volatile capitalist culture that keeps us from the important work we need to make, not only for ourselves to heal with, but our communities. 

Our cultural leaders and artists are integral to recovering and healing the land and the people.

Each one lost early to the effects of colonization, police violence, poverty and abuse adds decades to the healing of our nations. 

Our Ancestors are speaking to us through art.

Our culture is within us, it needs to be nourished

It needs shielding from colonization

Dick Chick Diptic came out of exploration of my own trans experience, of the ways we relate to our bodies or not, and the euphoric flexability of having choice in how we present ourselves through sex and sexual expression.