they built fields of grass on sawdust: poplar, 2023

seed beads, felt and poplar plinth
12” x 12” x 3’

For the past few years I have begun a new body of work focusing on grass, and other moncultures such as wheat, barley, and oats, that have been used as colonial space taking tools. These crops are, historically and presently, strategically placed to guide movement, elevate status, signal respectable use of land, and point to morality, purity and cleanliness. The experience of making these extremely laborious sculptures has inspired me to think deeply about how land is used in North America and how it’s tied to moral responsibilities and settler colonial laws and by-laws.

they built fields of grass on sawdust: poplar are sculptures that depict how colonial policy promotes the destruction of trees (old growth forests on the west coast, old growth pines being decimated in the east, most recently the green belt in Ontario, OKA) for individual and corporate profit. Poplar because it is nêhiýaw’s first tree and speaks to the history of nêhiýaw territory and cosmology.

This work was made possible with support from Arts Nova Scotia.

photo credit: Steve Farmer