What meaning does your art have for you?

"My art focuses on the details of the beautiful products my ancestors crafted to survive for thousands of years. It is a way for me to learn what symbols and materials were used for regalia, clothes, housing, spirituality, food, ceremonies, medicines, language, and their way of life. Everything had meaning. This helps me understand their world views and beliefs and teaches me how I should decolonize and honor them."

What is your inspiration?

"My art is inspired by the resiliency and fortitude of our Indigenous people who were subjected to cultural genocide. Remove the child, remove the spiritual people and ceremonies, cut the children’s hair, slap them in the face, punish him for speaking his language, and forbid her to play with her own siblings. Ask for permission to leave the reserve, invoke the Indian Act, and more. Over the years there have been many commissions, studies, reports, recommendations, and calls to action: Royal Commission, MMIWG+2S calls to action, Truth, and Reconciliation calls to action, UNDRIP, high levels of incarcerations, Sixties Scoop, racism in the health system, RCMP mistreatment, children taken from families because the parents were looked at through a colonial lens. And that continues to this day. The recent uncovering of deceased children buried on residential school properties, poverty, homelessness, lack of quality water and community services, and the list goes on and on.... I lament about what could have been and recognize that we must not forget the past but move forward, nurturing our children, rediscovering our languages and traditions, and surviving into the future."

Is there something about your process you want to share?

"Many of my paintings show vibrant images of Cree culture. I do research online about materials used, discover the meaning of each element, talk with Elders and look closely at the handiwork, then I try to create art that draws the viewer’s attention to the details. I use my art as therapy."

What makes you paint?

"I have worked in a variety of capacities with and for on and off reserve Indigenous communities for many years. I have worked with people who have dedicated their whole lives to helping bring our people out of the darkness. I come from poverty, alcoholism and addictions, violence, shame, fear, racism, poor mental health, spiritual disconnection, loneliness, not belonging, and feeling less than. I am recovering inside to learn to feel comfortable in my own skin, be who I am and who I was meant to be. I do this with the help of my creator, Indigenous community, my wife, children, and grandchildren, my sibling family, friends in recovery, and those who are on the Red Road. I paint because so much was TAKEN, and I want to be part of bringing it back and decolonizing my cluttered soul."