flow/mend/meld
“flow/mend/meld” is a mixed media painting using acrylic and glass beads on canvas. The piece utilizes traditional beadwork but is largely contemporary and abstract in its use of colour and form. This is a statement on hope, connection, and growth for future systems of care that is rooted in my own reflections on growing up in care as a trans Indigenous youth.
jaye simpson’s keynote “Let Me Speak: Providing Safe LGBTQ2+ Resources for Youth in and from Care” was the presentation that inspired this piece. They spoke of care not being the responsibility of children and envisioning a system where people would work together to support them instead. They spoke of this envisioning as, “moving like water, flowing, mending, and melding” which resonated with me and my experiences as a youth and the continued need for us to strike to do better and be better for those who need it.
Disruption and reconstruction are represented in this piece through the theme of water. It is both removing the existing silos that have served as barriers while also replenishing what is left with continual movement, growth, and nourishment from all the sources it is connected to.
Jean Baptiste
Jean Baptiste (they/them), Kihew Mahihkan Atayohkan Iskwew, belongs to the Wet’suwet’en nation in the Laksilyu clan. Since they were a child, they have been on a journey exploring their passion of storytelling. Primarily they utilize beadwork but have also explored poetry, spoken word performances, draglesque and mixed media to explore Indigeneity, gender, body sovereignty, queerness, and northern stories. Jean doesn’t have formal education in art but has been taught through mentorship relationships with other Indigenous artists. Each piece of art is grounded out of their experiences consciously delving into their relationship with their body, community, history, and self-identity.