The Ceaseless Legacy of KC Adams

Cree and Ojibway artist KC Adams has been one of the most influential people in my life. It has been the many women, conversations, and shared moments that have fuelled my practice, not my formal education. KC was one of the first people to mentor me when I moved to Winnipeg after art school and provided me with many of the opportunities that brought me to where I am today. She was a nurturing support, who encouraged me to build up a network of like-minded artists, curators, and colleagues. These experiences allowed me to connect to an arts community I truly felt accepted in. KC emboldened this exploration, pushing me towards research that connected deeply with my identity. 

Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, KC’s expansive practice employs a variety of mediums that explore the intersections of nature and technology. Her work investigates kinship and identity, addressing issues of racism, consumerism, and social and economic issues. She is likely most known for her Cyborg Hybrids series, an ongoing portrait series that started in the early 2000s featuring Indigenous-identifying arts and culture workers. Positioned in stoic poses, flawless skin darkened to contrast the stark white background, they wear racial slurs beaded onto the chest of their t-shirts. In 2014 she created Perception, a widely discussed series of posters that covered downtown Winnipeg. She used advertisement platforms such as bus shelters, commercial billboards, storefronts, and public transit to display diptychs of First Nations- and Métis-identifying folks. On the left a portrait of the individual with text sharing a racist public perception. On the right: a smiling portrait, with text of their own self-identification as Indigenous people. This series created a call to action that challenged the stereotypes and prejudices experienced by First Nations peoples. Perceptions was re-created in Lethbridge, AB in 2016 and adapted into an award-winning publication, Perceptions: A photo series (2019). KC once said the work had good timing, giving credit to the current context in which it was produced, but I think there’s more to it. Her work is responsive; she sees what’s happening around her and doesn’t hesitate to develop a timely action. 

Rooted in ancestral knowledge, sacred materials, and traditional teachings, KC’s more recent work uses materials and process to investigate the continuous transfer of knowledge throughout generations, walking in the footsteps of her ancestors. KC has a history of working with ceramics, but since the 2017 group exhibition “Shards,” curated by Jenny Western, she has been continuing her research and revitalization of traditional pottery techniques of Indigenous peoples from the Manitoba region. KC continues to collect shards and works with the Manitoba Museums collection to recreate traditional pottery styles, firing techniques, tool construction, and clay extraction. Her research in this area is actively reclaiming a practice that is not widely experienced today. As she experiments to rebuild these pots, firing them on the land, and testing them as water vessels, she is reactivating a lost practice, creating opportunities for relearning, and beginning a path of continuation among other artists and makers interested in these long-standing techniques. 

Her most recent solo show, “Gage’gajiiwaan” (2020), at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (AGSM), was recently moved online due to COVID-19. This exhibition centres around Birch Bark Technologies, a series of prints layering birch bark and circuits, some creating a morning star design often seen on traditional star blankets. On some prints, KC uses glass beads or copper to depict specific teachings, such as the thunderbird and imagery about the sacredness of water. Accompanying each work is an audio teaching in Anishinaabemowin, narrated by Sherry Copenace. “Gage’gajiiwaan” reflects on the relationships between ancestral knowledge, memories, and water; the process in which we transfer knowledge and communicate throughout generations, linking past, present, and future. 

While I could continue listing her many artistic accomplishments, I would be remiss to not acknowledge her contribution to the community, her dedication to arts education, and mentorship. To be transparent, KC is my cousin and godmother. While we come from the same large family, one whose lineage stems from Fisher River Cree Nation and Métis Red River settlements, we did not grow up together. We are eighteen years apart in age, grew up in different regions, and have different experiences related to the shaping of our identity as Indigenous women. While I grew up away from my extended family, the rare moments I got to spend with them were filled with nothing but love, laughter, and care. I share this because it is important to understand where I am coming from when I talk about her as a mentor. We had to nurture and develop our relationship over time, slowly learning about each other and not relying solely on our blood connection to foster our relationship. 

In 2012, I assisted her in the building of Birch Bark Ltd. created for “Winnipeg Now” at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. This was the first experience I had working behind the scenes of a large-scale exhibition. I met with the curators alongside KC, did walkthroughs with the preparators and technicians, and helped with late-night installation. I’m not the only person she has included in her professional practice; she creates paid positions to hire emerging artists to work alongside her. While we spent our days sharing meals, laughter, and conversation among the artworks, I had the invaluable opportunity to meet, listen to, and witness a practicing artist, something that can’t be taught in an institution. 

KC is a professional arts educator for schools throughout Manitoba who leads lessons in pottery construction alongside the seven sacred teachings. She takes her role as a mentor seriously, making herself available for aspiring or emerging artists and cultural workers, sharing with them lessons and knowledge she obtained throughout her years working as a professional artist. KC’s mentorship extends into the community as well. She teaches vessel-making techniques at gatherings; she is an active member in Nibi ceremonies, offering her time and skill to continue the transfer of knowledge. She often hosts ceramic workshops at her kitchen table or, as of recently, on Facebook Live. These shared moments become less about skill and more about gathering and laughter, learning together through the process of making. The last time I visited her, she gifted me a starter tool kit to be able to make my own pots, reminding me it’s a part of my history, too. It would be naive of me to think she presents these gifts to everyone; I do acknowledge we have a special relationship. While I love to think I will actively use the tools to learn what she has taught me, they sit on a mantel – a visual reminder of the importance of mentorship, transfer of knowledge, and gathering as a community. 

Now that I am back home in Edmonton, I have taken with me what KC has shared, all of which has helped shape who I am as an artist and curator. Mentorship is a critical element to how we develop as artists and curators, maybe now more so than ever. As I move forward in my career, my hope is to approach it with as much nurturing, integrity, and care as she does, opening myself up for opportunities to mentor when needed and support the work of those artists, curators, and thinkers yet to come. 

Becca Taylor’s curatorial practice involves investigations of Indigenous community building, food sovereignty, and Indigenous feminisms. Taylor is currently the acting Director of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre in Edmonton, AB.

This article is published in issue 37.2 of BlackFlash magazine. Get this issue