Two-Spirit Love
I have been utterly fascinated with exploring under the sea lately. Not only is it a world filled with unknown wonder, it is also a great artistic metaphor for our subconscious minds. Furthermore, it represents what society neglects. Much of our garbage ends up in the ocean, forgotten civilizations/forgotten lives, sunken ships/sunken dreams. I have especially been interested in things that are reclaimed by the sea, particularly the otherworldly sculptures of Jason Decaires Taylor in which he puts sculptures in the ocean of actual living human beings which are also very conveniently conducive to coral growth. He is putting art in the ocean, not to be forgotten, but to bring awareness and create new life.
Similarly, I was struck during the conference with the idea of two-spirit people being forgotten even within indigenous cultures. As someone who is of mixed European and Mi’kmaw heritage I have always felt an affinity with the term two-spirit. It perfectly encapsulates how I identify as a gender-queer drag queen. Some say I am not native enough to identify with the term two-spirit (as I have more European ancestry in my blood than First Nations) and perhaps they’re right. I still feel a deep connection to indigenous people around the world and their plight however. During the conference the conflicts between the independent Mi’kmaw lobster fisherman and the larger commercial fisheries was also a topic that was mentioned. The blatant racism, and active colonialism of this whole story reminded me that there is still a huge battle raging for indigenous people and the natural world. As a symbol of that I included an Atlantic lobster in the foreground of the painting and also a North Atlantic Right Whale in the back which is currently critically endangered due to human activity (largely commercial fisheries).
The main two figures are sculptures of two male lovers and the protrusions on their heads are not so much meant to represent feathers or Mohawks (conventional representations of First Nations people) but more so the concept of energy projecting outward. Though two-spirited people may be neglected by society, we do still exist and we are still projecting our energy out into the world.
The conference reminded me of the interconnectivity of everything, from the pandemic, to the politics of waste and greed, to the sublimation of First Nations cultures and the total disregard for nature in the modern world. This painting is my attempt to represent all of those thoughts and feelings while also paying homage to the beauty of Mother Nature and Two-Spirit Love.
Click here to watch the Summit 2020 session that inspired this piece.
Shannon Lester received his MFA from UBCO in Interdisciplinary Painting & Performance in 2013. He is also an event producer and drag performance artist known as Sasha Zamolodchikova and is very active in the local lgbtq2+ community of Kelowna, BC where he resides. Shannon has been painting for over twenty years now and has exhibited widely across Canada, and Japan. Shannon’s art can be found on Facebook and Instagram under @shannonlesterart and Sasha can be found at @mistress_sashaz Keep an eye out for Shannon’s new show on unicorns.live SASHA TV Live Paint : Feeling Her Fantasy which debuts on January 11th. www.shannonlester.com