Akia

Sealskin on canvas  

Akia is my attempt to heal what's been severed through colonialism – as an arnaq. The artwork is set in Sedna’s descent to the bottom of the sea as she transforms into a half seal goddess. Her transformation of suffering into the creation of bounty that provides from the other side is embedded throughout the piece. As the poem descends into blood memory and an intimate family story, the creation story is activated in reverse. Communication through sealskin to heal disconnection and despair between a panik, her attata, and home. 

The 2700 letters are my offering from the other side, to feed the spirit of Inuit – especially others like me, who find themselves displaced from family and homeland. 

*Inuktitut translations: akia (the other side), arnaq (woman), panik (daughter), attata (father)

Commissioned for Hexsa’a̱m: To Be Here Always (UBC Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC | Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, BC, 2019)
Featured as part of INUA, the world’s largest exhibition of Inuit Art, (Qaumajuq-Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB, 2021-2023)
Acquired by the Canada Council Art Bank as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations (2023)