Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal is a multimedia artist, community activist, oskâpêwis, and lifelong learner. Born and raised in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, she currently lives in Treaty 7 territory within Mohkínstsis (Calgary). Tamara traces her ancestral roots back to both Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 and the once German occupied lands of Ukraine. Having graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Sculpture, from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2015, Tamara has since been a recipient of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts 2017 Young Artists Award, as well as the National BMO Art! Competition Award for her graduating work Back into the Earth: Creation and the Interpretation of Meaning, which speaks to her core interests in community, family history, and our human connection with Mother Earth. Tamara attended the 2016 Indigenous Visual + Digital Arts Residency in Banff, Alberta where she created Akohp: A Blanket, most recently featured in the 2017 Alberta Biennial at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

Tamara currently works within the urban Indigenous community as a Child Support Worker through Awo Taan Healing Lodge offering creative programming to families seeking shelter from domestic violence. Her artwork continues to be a reflection of the teachings she receives along her journey, inviting all people to become a part of the process.

Dan Cardinal McCartney graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2016. His maternal family is from Fort Chipewyan, Alberta and was raised in Fort McMurray. His maternal blood lines are a proud mix of Cree, Chipewyan, and Métis. As a two spirit, transmasculine person, Dan sifts through questions of blood memory and inter- generational trauma. Gender dysphoria, combined with cultural diaspora, leaves gashes to either remain open or to be scabbed over in time.

These hand-carved relief woodcut prints are an exploration of personal subjective views of Alberta. Combining humor and apprehension, the prints show a narrative rich with critique on current tourism and environmental dynamics. As an Indigenous artist, routed in activism, it is troubling see the continuous exploitation of the environment, and the lack of respect for this Indigenous land.

Laura Grier is a Deline First Nation Printmaker, born in Yellowknife, who currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2015, Grier graduated with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Fine Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in Halifax. Having grown up away from traditional lands, Laura tries to find ways to revitalize Indigenous culture and knowledge by using traditional print mediums. Laura’s art is inspired by the vitality of Indigenous art practices and is grounded in Indigenous worldviews and lived experiences.

Sarah Houle is a multidisciplinary, Métis artist based in Calgary, AB and is from the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement in Northern Alberta. Her work is autobiographical with an interest in technology, fantasy, and craft. Cultural identity in the age of digital technology is important in her work, as elements of physical and digital space come together to conjure nostalgic imagery. Modern day fantastical legends express the artists social commentary on identity from the perspective of Métis culture and heritage.

Artist Statement – Helen Gilbert, professor at the University of London, believes that through ‘re-identification’ Indigenous people can decolonize themselves through artistic expression, particularly by employing new technologies that have recently emerged into the art world. In the article Native art now: indigenous and digital Gilbert points out that colonialism has given Aboriginal artists the task of challenging stereotypes that have been ingrained in popular culture through the arts since colonization. “As Aboriginal people decolonize, so too does the non-Aboriginal community. Both groups need to become free of the dominant forces that have cast Aboriginal culture as inferior. By decolonizing the exhibition space and art discourses, an Aboriginal worldview will flourish,” (pg. 17).