“The Emma Lake Workshops have a loaded history, and many prairie artists are ready to lay that chapter to rest. […] My curiosity was piqued, so I invited Nancy to sit down to demystify the enduring legacy of Emma Lake and how it continues to creep into her art practice.”
Laura St. Pierre
Laura St. Pierre is a visual artist of French, English and German descent living on Treaty 6 territory. She uses photography, video and installation to explore questions related to climate change.
Traces act as evidence of repression, dispersion, unlikely affinities, secret histories, kinship, and artistic lineages.
“In the beforetimes, you would never have worked like this: through two hypothetical fifteen- minute breaks and a lunch, with no concept of overtime, entirely alone. There was time to distract yourself with images—a plentiful supply in a seemingly endless scroll. The work seemed less urgent then; yesterday’s rest was a risk of different proportions.”
“Labour is a well-explored topic in contemporary art—it is the subject of annual festivals, the dedicated focus of art centres, and the premise of exhibitions, performances, and documentary projects. But it is also a tricky topic. […] Increasingly, artists who deal with representing labour also have to navigate the dematerialization of work, and find ways to bring the often-invisible aspects of contemporary labour (from technology to resource exploitation to gendered and racialized work) out into the light.”
“…every day since the Women’s March. I would read about something and I would make a sign about it. It was about Trump, feminism, Indigenous rights. It was about the birds, disappearing nature. So, it was about broad topics and then the pandemic came into it. But it’s all very, very connected.” ~ Dawna Rose
Our Summer 2023 issue features a dynamic group of writers and culture workers who offer insight into the unique circumstances of the art world, many of which are in dire need of critique and deep reconsideration.
Edouard Beaupré is known for being one of the tallest men in recorded history. His legacy as the “Géant de Willow Bunch” has permeated Fransaskois culture and the French immersion curriculum. For a number of years, Jessie Ray Short has investigated Beaupré’s Métis lineage and in this candid conversation with Laura St. Pierre, explores why this important fact has been omitted from history.
St. Pierre has developed this complexity—desire and aversion, serenity and gloom—in her practice over time, addressing the fallout of industrialized life ways, while avoiding simplistic critiques or appeals.