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| The Creative Process The creative process of art production is an activity that I have always enjoyed since my child hood. As far back as I can recall, I observed details around me; colors, shapes, textures, forms of life, interactions of life and I translated these perceptions in a poetic way through the art medium. Music, also, has been a creative medium that I enjoy, listening and composing music through vocals and guitar, it provides an immediate conduit, an outlet, for my self expression of emotions and experiences. In addition to the creative process in art and music, my leisure time usually involves being out in nature. I like to go for walks and explore, cross country run, camp and ride horses. The beauty and serenity of nature and the gifts it has to offer inspires my creative process and keeps me centered philosophically and spiritually. |
Artist Statement 2008 The predominate genres for my art work are sculpture and drawing, though my work is mix-media which includes a wide range of materials such as rocks, wood, bones and hair, to cast material in Matrix G, gypsum, concrete, metal and paper. My two-dimensional work, includes mix- media drawing as well as digital work in Photoshop and Illustrator, and at times, I integrate the two. Currently I am exploring three dimensions in new media such as lenticular photography and holograms.  The subject matter of my work is always evolving as I evolve, it is contextual to the influences in my life, as a First Nations person, whether it is political or personal. In the past, my work addressed past and present political First Nations issues, in order to raise public awareness, though after 1993, my subject matter began to reflect more personal stories, in my life experiences and those around me. It has been my observation that the human story of life is what connects hearts and people. I see my exhibitions as an opportunity for the viewer to make a connection with the aboriginal experience, to bring understanding and perhaps make meaning in their own lives.The metaphoric forms that evolve from my themes, are usually inspired by nature. I see poetics in nature’s forms that reveal a connection to the human story. Trees, stones, bones and horns are particularly inspirational to me. In the past several years I have integrated stones into my sculpture with an aesthetic and historical purpose. Not only are people instinctively drawn to stones, the stones hold significant historical meaning for Aboriginals of the Plains. Stones were used for its practical physical properties and well for ceremonial purposes and commemorative land markers. Examples would include; tipi rings, fire pits, burial sites, caches, tools and warfare items, as well as for medicine wheels, pictographs, petroglyphs, petroforms, sacred boulders, amulets and pipes. It is my intention to revive the traditional use of stone, though with a current context of time and place, that inevitably leaves a permanent historical marker of cultural practice today, in a sense, creating the history of tradition today. In summary, my art is a reflection of my life, of being in place and time, just as art production is essentially a mirror of the self and the self in life. In the same sense, my work is a continuation of the creative expressions of my ancestors whose work reflected their time and place, their current realities, and from within their cultural ideology of beliefs, values, philosophy and customs. My work reflects this perpetual continuum of artistic practice, even though my art work is defined as contemporary today, when my life has passed, my work will be defined as traditional and another contemporary artist will have taken my place, with new creative expressions congruent with their cultural realities. Mary Aski-piyesiwiskwew Longman (September 25, 2008) >View complete CV online.< |
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