SPARK INDIGENOUS
Violets are Blue // Charlene Johnny
pesqahsuweskil: flowers // Emma Hassencahl-Perley
Pjilita'gw - You [plural] are welcome // Mel Beaulieu
Thunderbird Whorl // Ovila Mailhot
AR, vinyl on glass windows
When: Feb 16–19 // 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Where: 650 View Street
Spark Indigenous is an augmented reality (AR) creator accelerator program created and led by Slow Studies Creative and in partnership with Meta. Through this program we merge the richness of our traditions with the limitless potential of XR technology. This dynamic Indigenous-led program aims to empower Indigenous creators, to learn how to seamlessly integrate interactive AR experiences into their diverse artistic practices.
Through Meta Spark Studio, an accessible and powerful AR design toolkit, these visionary artists crafted immersive experiences that transcend physical boundaries, captivating a global audience across social platforms. By amplifying our voices and stories, we unveil a tapestry of cultural heritage, story and expression that reaches far and wide.
Through shared ideas and collective inspiration, we explore how AR can contribute to social movements or help breathe life into meaningful causes. Our mission is to ensure that our cultural legacies are cherished not only within our communities but from anywhere in the world. By transcending the limitations of physical gallery spaces, we've opened up new possibilities for art to be accessible and interactive, reaching a global audience through digital platforms.
Charlene Johnny is a Coast Salish artist from the Quw’utsun Tribes of Duncan, B.C., residing on the unceded territory of her relatives the xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Skwxwú7mesh and Səl̓ ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh Nations. She began her career in 2012 when she won two artist grants from the YVR Art Foundation working with business, graphic design, photography, glass and textiles. Charlene has apprenticed under well-known artists and has formal art training from Native Education College. She graduated from the silver and copper carving program in 2018 and became a full time artist in 2020, with her main practice in graphic design and mural art. With her interdisciplinary approach to art and language, Charlene will continue to work in various mediums to explore and express her ancestral artwork through a number of contemporary ways.
Charlene Johnny
Emma Hassencahl-Perley is Wolastoqwiw from Neqotkuk (where the two rivers flow beneath each other), also known as Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick. She holds a BFA from Mount Allison University (‘17) and a Masters of Art in Art History (‘22) from Concordia University. Emma is a visual artist, curator, educator,author and arts criticism essayist.
Her visual art mediums include beadwork, murals and digital illustration. Her work explores the term “Legislative Identity” (how the Indian Act impacts the identities of Indigenous peoples in Canada). Through material and visual culture, Emma also considers her identity in her work as an ehpit (woman) and citizen of the Wabanaki (People of the Dawn) Confederacy. Her visual art practice takes inspiration from Wabanaki double-curve beadwork and iconography, typically found on 19th-century textiles and objects.
These mirrored, curvilinear forms speak about relationships, community life and being in balance with the universe.
Emma Hassencahl-Perley
Mel Beaulieu is a mixed media artist, with a focus on contemporary beadwork. Through their work, they express a sense of fun and nostalgia, creating things that their younger self would love.
Mel is a member of Metepenagiag First Nation and lives and creates in Fredericton, N.B.
Mel Beaulieu
The culture and spirituality of Coast Salish people has always been a part of my life, but it wasn't until I decided to become an artist that I found the perfect way to express that part of myself.
Originally from Seabird Island, B.C., being a self-taught artist with roots in the Nlaka'pamux and Sto:lo Nation, I've built a burgeoning design career creating logos and other artwork inspired by the traditions of my people for Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses and for several apparel companies. I always wanted to represent where I’m from in my culture and my community. Learning more about the ancestral elements of Coast Salish art history helps me find ways to show who I am and where I'm from.
Art feels vital to me, and being able to share that passion I have is important to me. This tradition of work, and this beauty, is so necessary for our culture and healing.