ᐋᔀᐢᑯᑌᐤ
WÂSASKOTEW: WELLNESS/ART
Wâsaskotew is Plains Cree language for 'emanating light.' Light can emanate from the sun, from the moon, from the reflection of daylight on summer fields, of moonlight on the ocean waves. I chose this name to describe an art project intended to generate creative dialogue around traditional wellness practices and artistic expression. This seems particularly relevant as a complement and cultural context to modern medicine. Wâsaskotew is presented here as a digital art exhibition.
Wellness/Art means ways that we connect with land, nature, environment as a wellness practice, with art as a medium of connection, sharing and expression of wellness.
Clockwise from top-left: Tansi (Hello), Mahihkan (Wolf), Tapwe (True), Otehimin (Heartberry - Strawberry), Ekosi (Give Thanks), Wâsaskotepayiw (Lightning), Wâsaskotew (Emanates Light), Sîsîkwêw (Rattlesnake)
Cree Language Bookmarks, Alicia Marie Lawrence, Gouache on Paper with Laminate, 1.5"x4.5" 2020
Wellness/Art means many things: research, reflection, innovation. In recent months, limited access to shared spaces, such as studio spaces, public spheres, and a sudden convergence of partners, family, roomates, neighbours in crowded domestic spaces - in contrast to those who experienced intense isolation, sudden dependence on digital communications, new technologies, new social strategies, a distance from loved ones that crossing spaces could not bridge - caused artists to develop creative ways to continue art-making. My experience led to, among other things, the creation of many smaller artworks prepared on an array of surfaces, with experimental and alternative mediums, and new approaches to creating sacred space on an emotional level through ritual.
Wellness can be something that is contemplated, aspired to, generated and shared on a personal and individual level, from the immediate vantage of the body and the personal impact of identity, to the community level where inter-connection and inter-relation influences the negotiation of our social interactions, to the global level where our politics and systems influence, impose themselves upon, respond to cultures, the earth's balance, nature's harmony. The artists presented here represent these multiple levels of engagement in various and significant ways through sharing their creative expressions.
- Alicia Marie Lawrence
COVER
Test Swatches, Alicia Marie Lawrence, Nature Pigments on Paper, 14"x11" 2020
ARTIST CONTRIBUTORS
Jenny Fraser, East Coast AUSTRALIA
Alicia Lawrence, Victoria, BC CANADA
Toni Malette, Victoria, BC CANADA
Caroline Miskenack, Courtenay, BC CANADA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks for sharing expertise and insight on this project goes to:
Cheryl Alexander, Wildlife Photographer and Advocate, Victoria, BC CANADA
Brad Davis, Project Consultant, London, ON CANADA
Toby Lawrence, Curator, Gabriola Island, BC CANADA
Neil McClelland, Artist and Instructor, Victoria, BC CANADA
Esmée Lawrence Phillips, Model, Victoria, BC CANADA
Alison Skelton, Artist and Spiritualist, Victoria, BC CANADA
CITATION
Collaborative Digital Exhibition
Fraser, Jenny, Alicia Lawrence, Toni Mallette and Caroline Miskenack. Wâsaskotew: Wellness/Art. Curated by Alicia Lawrence. Canada Council for the Arts Digital Originals Project, Victoria, BC, Online (1 August - 31 October 2020) (www.wasaskotew.net)
This project was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council. From July to October 2020, the Wasaskotew.net project involved art creation, artist networking and web content presentation, with an artist workshop opportunity contributed by IM4 Media Labs. Alicia Marie Lawrence created the concept and contributed visual art content, digital media, research, curatorial skills, and web design toward Wasaskotew.net digital art exhibition.