JOI ARCAND (Ottawa, ON) | THROUGH THAT WHICH IS SCENE
June 30 – July 30
Artist talk June 30, 7:30pm
Reception to follow
Through That Which Is Scene is a mixed-media installation that centres around miniature cardboard cutouts created from several decades of Arcand’s family’s photos. The First Nations artist uses the cutouts to reconstruct memories and present family history as a tongue-in-cheek display of supposed curiosities. Colonized assumptions about “The Indian” fall into disarray through her blend of nostalgia and pop culture.
The dioramas are accompanied by Viewmasters, vintage toys typically used to observe postcard-perfect landscapes and cultural icons. Clicking through these colour-drenched “tourist reels” will give visitors a glimpse of how new identities can be imagined.
Bio:
Joi T. Arcand is a photo-based artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and based in Ottawa, Ontario. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2005.
Arcand was the co-founder of the Red Shift Gallery, a contemporary Aboriginal art gallery in Saskatoon and most recently the founder and editor of kimiwan ‘zine, a quarterly Indigenous arts publication. Her work has been exhibited at Gallery 101 in Ottawa, York Quay Gallery in Toronto, PAVED Arts in Saskatoon, grunt gallery in Vancouver, and published in Black Flash Magazine.