Statement

I followed Jeanette Luchese.  We had a really long phone conversation about her piece. She sent me the images for it, and I was really moved by her process. What she was going through and learning about reconciliation. About her own personal history, and the grief that she felt during the creation of her piece. In my very first piece, in the first round, it was very angry piece. It came from a place of anger and frustration. That this is our history. And in this Round I have feelings of there being more acceptance and understanding of what has happened in the past and moving forward together. While I was speaking to Jeanette, I received the image of the need to make a blanket out of paper. In the vision I can see people in this piece, but I didn't know how to put them on the blanket, showing their face and giving them an identity. I didn't want to give them identity so that people can put themselves in their shoes. To say, that's me, that’s my story. This piece is called Blanket. Blanket is a dedication to my grandmother. She was a well known quilter within my community of chimneysing. After her passing, she sent my mother a message to create a blanket. And the funny thing is, my mom is not artsy at all. She is not a quilter, and she definitely did not want to make a blanket.

During the call action round three I receive the image to create the blanket out of the paper bags. I'm a mixed media artist, I attempted to make a blanket out of paper in my own way and not like in the traditional way of sewing a blanket. This blanket is my contribution to truth and reconciliation.

It is inspired by my grandmother's quilts. I attempted to recreate her pattern of children. Their hair is made out of yarn. My grandmother would braid each of their hair on her quilts. In this work, I cut the braids off the children and left them at the bottom of the blanket. The lace found on the bottom and the top of the piece is my own random interpretation of the wampum belt. The two rivers flowing side by side, an agreement to share the land. Like the children on the blanket the Indigenous people of Turtle island have given up so much to coexist with their settler counterpart. We have received nothing but meaningless words in return. Colonization started with a blanket, blankets filled with smallpox and given to the Indigenous people to make them sick. Today in our communities homemade quilts are given at birth, weddings, it all started with a blanket. Now I give this homemade paper quilt to reconciliation, signifying the new beginnings to come.