Statement

When Round Three of the Call to Action #83 art project was being revealed, I had to watch the ceremony on-line as I had COVID.  I was really touched by the artwork and since I had the luxury of time being stuck at home, I decided to imagine what my response to Round 3 would have been if I was one of the artists.

The image of heart’s cracking open dropped into my imagination and I decided to create this piece using fabric, beads, and embroidery silks.  I chose to represent Mother Earth with a green heart.  Then I cut 13 red hearts (for the 13 moons) from different fabrics as we all have hearts but slightly different DNA and epigenetics. I used pinking shears to “crack” the hearts open.  From these open hearts, yellow light pours out and healing medicines grow. There are many tiny connecting lines sewn with copper and silver thread to represent our interconnections.  These were inspired by the mycelial connections within the Earth that allow trees and plants to share resources.

All of the medicines that I represented are used by Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island and I also have a relationship with each of these plants.  From the left on the top row is Cedar, Stinging Nettle, Heal-All and Sweetgrass.  The middle row from the left includes Jewelweed, Elderberry, Tobacco, Plantain and Mint. The bottom row from the left includes Maple, Strawberry, Saskatoon Berry, and Sage. Each of these plants have many stories to tell.

The blue encircling the Earth could be water or air.  There are wave lines quilted on the blue fabric which come in and go out.  The white circle around the edge represents the moon and the yellow represents the sun.

The piece was part of the Women’s Art Show in Orillia in 2023 within the theme “Reimagine”.  As part of my artist’s statement I wrote, “I am reimagining a Canada in which the hearts of non-Indigenous people are broken open in relationships with the hearts of Indigenous Peoples. I am imagining that medicinal plants can grow from these collective opened hearts that will bring healing.”  That show is finished now but the artwork wants to keep on working to inspire a healing way forward.