KOHKUM & KEFFIYEH
Nevada Lynn
See it On Campus: Level 2
Visitor InfoAward Recipient
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia: Outstanding Achievement in the Arts
Emily Carr Alumni Association Graduation Award for Community Engagement – Honourable Mention
ECU Mary Plumb Blade Award – Honourable Mention
I am an artist attuned to activism. In my work I aim to offer thoughtful commentary, inspiration and hope. Throughout my lifetime Indigenous peoples will continue to experience the repercussions of precedent setting settler colonial violence–historic violence that has morphed in a myriad of ways into present day. Similarly, Palestinians who survive the ongoing genocide in Gaza will navigate the seen and unseen effects of unspeakable harms for generations to come. Violence has a way of permeating our hearts, minds, and living in our very cells. Here is the hope: the antidote to violence is love. And the inspiration: we are a global community powerful in numbers, agents of change unlimited in our capacity to love. These prints remind us that love is both a choice and an action.
In this new work I explore the tactical use of genocide and ecocide to realize settler colonial objectives. These prints reference the colonization of Indigenous peoples north and south of the Medicine Line, and the atrocities unfolding in present day Palestine, both of which facilitate the seizure of land. The ghostly buffalo hoof prints and symbolic olive branches mirror the historic extermination of the buffalo and the ongoing decimation of olive trees, actions which dislocate and separate people from the land.
This chaotic print on linen speaks to people under attack. The embroidered yellow lines throughout the piece reflect the movement of families who are both imprisoned and homeless. The bloodied and diminished skulls of ravens and crows mark them as historic and present day witnesses of genocide. Hand beaded olives in this work reflect the resilience of Palestinian people, and reference cultural connection as a pathway of healing for Indigenous communities. The four partially embroidered traditional Palestinian scarves in this print represent family members who will be harmed or lose their lives as I write these words. The number four reminds us of the four stages of life, four seasons, four directions and the four sacred medicines.
Below: two of six monotype serigraph prints on BFK paper with embroidery and text embossment, 2024
In reference to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 speech in opposition of the Vietnam War, attorney and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander writes:
“King’s message was not a hopeless one. To the contrary, he aimed to remind us that we have more creativity and more power and collective genius than we often imagine. He called us to a world-wide fellowship, a radical solidarity, that lifts neighbourly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation. He called us to embrace an unconditional love for humanity—not just in words but in deeds.”
OTIPEMISIWAK: THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THEMSELVES
Spirit (blueberries) and Death (Raven), acrylic paint and flat-backed rhinestones on reclaimed buffalo skulls, 2023, photo Geoffrey Wallang
This work examines triumphs and struggles within the Métis Nation. Using buffalo skulls I found on the land near my mother’s northern Alberta farm, I created four mythic creatures titled Prosperity, Bloodshed, Spirit, and Death. I paired each skull with a large swath of linen fashioned to resemble a buffalo robe with stitching similar to a historic Métis waistcoat. The hand-printed robes have symbols and imagery that speak to prosperity, bloodshed, spirit and death within the Métis experience. Hung from the ceiling, the robes drape over birch branches, which are beloved trees in the Métis Nation. This collection of work also includes twenty-one serigraph and relief monotype prints on paper that celebrate Métis identity. The overarching aspiration of this project was to create cultural touchstones for Métis youth and inspire community connections.
The photographs below document the being I created and titled Death. Its robe contains repeating images of raven, spider, owl, tobacco, sweetgrass, sage, snake, dragonfly, poplar leaf, and the Métis cart wheel.
From a series of twenty-one prints on paper, this selection of six feature embossed text and imagery, as well as my family’s historic land scrip. Land Scrip was a fraudulent government program that separated Métis people from their land.
Serigraph and relief monotype prints on BFK paper with embossment, 11″X15″, 2023
DOUGLAS FIR – SRAP7ÚL
The original idea for this exhibit was to create work inspired by the land I live on, while acknowledging that my home is on the shared, unceded, traditional territory of the Skwxwú7mesh Nation and Lilwat7úl Nation.
These beaded serigraph prints on muslin originate from a cross-section of Douglas Fir I hand-printed with relief ink. The fir round featured came from a tree that was felled in 2021 on the property where I live in Whistler, BC. Because land acknowledgements can be performative, I chose to use an image from the land to draw a more meaningful connection to the fact that many of us occupy traditional territories that are not our own.
Serigraph on muslin, glass beads, birch plywood, 30″ X 30″, 2021.
PROJECT UKRAINE & THE KOHKUM SCARF
These 2021, 11″X15″ serigraph solidarity prints feature the map of Ukraine with Kohkum scarf floral motifs overlaid. Below the floral patterns is the Ukrainian trident or tryzub, which is one of Ukraine’s most iconic symbols. Along with the floral prints are a series of portraits of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This exhibit also has a sculptural element, which includes sweetgrass and postcards wrapped in Kohkum scarves.
While Ukraine has fallen out of the news cycle, destruction and displacement continue. I created this series of fifty-eight, 5″X7″ serigraph portraits at the beginning of the war. At that time some were donated to fundraisers and gifted to Ukrainians immigrating to Canada.
