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Statement
When I was approached about making art for a main-street wide show surrounding anti-racist conversations and John A Macdonald, I was thrilled.
I’ve been a part of a long conversation with my community on this particular topic, which seemed to split everyone in half. I was shocked at the lack of respect and consideration for the BIPOC in our community in defense of the statue, or rather – the statue being there in the first place.
The piece I created was intended to make people feel uncomfortable, sad, and shocked. I wanted people to see their patriotic symbol covered in names of missing and murdered indigenous women in bleeding ink. I wanted it to be clear and in-your-face, so there was no denial that our country has deep rooted, systemic problems around race.
Each name I felt my heart break a little more. Reading their stories, seeing their pictures, it was jarring. I hoped people felt that when they saw this piece.