ᒥᔪᑕᒧᐣ ᓇᓇᓂᐢ miyotamon nananis - it is a good road in all directions

In this exhibition, artist and AUArts Alum Heather Shillinglaw honours the language of her nohkums and kookums (grandmothers) and weaves oral teachings inspired by the natural world.

Artist and AUArts Alum Heather Shillinglaw, BFA '96, Drawing whose family is from the LeGoff Indian Reserve, honours the language of her nohkums and kookums (grandmothers) and weaves oral teachings inspired by the natural world.

In her exhibition "ᒥᔪᑕᒧᐣ ᓇᓇᓂᐢ miyotamon nananis - it is a good road in all directions" Shillinglaw incorporates the work of historians, scholars, and elders in her artwork, effectively turning it into cultural sharing, and rediscovering her roots to the land by using the philosophy and languages of her ancestors. Blending concepts of body, mind and spirit that become woven messages through her practice, Shillinglaw’s art evolves in her storytelling and re-telling of familial oral histories. Shillinglaw references aerial photographs of the landscapes depicted and recontoured in this exhibition taking a bird’s eye view: these are places of significance to Shillinglaw’s family history she assembles to “encourage us to remember, remember, remember.”

On now at the Alberta Craft Discovery Gallery in Edmonton.

Photo Credit: Alberta Craft Council