Who I am and why I do

As a Canadian girl, born and raised in Vancouver, BC, with Czech and Anishinaabe heritage, I grew up with multiple outlooks on the connection between artistic expression and nature. On my Czech side, puppets and dolls and eclectic films coloured my childhood and influenced my artistic aesthetic greatly. The way films are made in Czechia is unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else, the substance and themes of their art is so raw and palpable, unfiltered in the best way.

On my Anishinaabe side, I have a deep-rooted adoration for nature. My religion was never one that was based in a church, but rather of what I myself could make of the magic that the natural world showed me. My father, who is half Anishinaabe and half Irish, was raised with similar principles and fostered a blossoming relationship to the natural world as a result, which he passed down to me to continue growing.

On my Czech side, my mother, an Herbalist, taught me all about the ways in which we can use our natural resources in a respectful way, taking only what we need and giving back to the earth, and heal our bodies and mind with plants. She has always encouraged me to form my own beliefs when it comes to my spirituality as well, surrounding me with the influences of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity ect. Growing up with such a vast net that my parents cast out for me, I have been able to appreciate and learn from so many different ways of life and beliefs. The core of my spiritual understanding has always been rooted in the importance of taking care of our planet and honouring the magic that nature holds.

My practice thus far has been centred heavily on creating art that combines the tangible, hand-made stop motion aesthetic of the Czech films and art I grew up exposed to such as the many works of Jan Svankmajer, or one of my favourite Czech films Kuky ce vraci) with the Indigenous relationship to our environment and appreciation for the natural world. My mission is to create art that enamours people in a unique visual style, and inspires them to reconnect with the world in ways that Indigenous people have been doing for millennia, in the ways in which such a large part of society has forgotten how to do.