Two Alberta artists debuted their exhibits at the Okotoks Art Gallery last weekend.
The two exhibits, living iyiniwak survivance by Dr. Karlee Fellner and Painting Alberta by Sabine Lecore-Moore, are on view at the Okotoks Art Gallery until Nov. 8.
Fellner, a psychologist and former professor at the University of Calgary, said living iyiniwak survivance is inspired by a quote from White Earth Anishinaabe scholar Gerald Visenor.
"Survivance is an active sense of presence, the continuance of native stories, not a mere reaction, or a survivable name. Native survivance stories are renunciations of dominance, tragedy, and victimry," explained Fellner, a Cree/Métis artist.
"As Indigenous peoples, we have always been here in these lands and we are still here, despite attempts to get rid of us, and so each of these pieces speaks to different forms of Indigenous survivance."
The exhibit is composed of mixed media, including artwork made from the bones of wild-harvested bison, the meat of which Fellner and her family ate, and wild-collected antlers.
"It just speaks to how we're still eating our traditional foods, which nourish our spirit, hearts, bodies and minds," explained Fellner. "They're our healthiest foods for us, and each of the pieces in some way speaks about our inter-connectedness with the land, with everything in creation and all of the universe."
Fellner's work also touches on pregnancy teachings, traditional birthing, the postpartum period and other forms of Indigenous survivance.
Lecorre-Moore, a French artist based in Calgary, pays homage to Alberta through her piece, which covers the Large Gallery's walls.
Painting Alberta, which features paintings from across the province, started about seven years ago, according to Lecorre-Moore.
"It has 360 paintings to do a full circle of Alberta," she said. "They're all based on photographs from 1881 to nowadays."
The paintings depict hundreds of unique scenes across Alberta, from weddings and funerals to landscapes and locations such as the SAGE Clan's yellow tipi in Lethbridge and the Foothills' own Leighton Art Centre.
"It's a very exciting journey... you can travel Alberta without leaving Okotoks," she said.
"You have First Nations, Métis, air balloon festivals, the mosque in Calgary... I try to cover as many themes as possible in this project and share what I know of Alberta, what I discovered along the way."
Lecorre-Moore, who arrived in Alberta from France in the 1990s, considers Painting Alberta a love letter to the entire province.
"This project is to thank Alberta for being such a good place to live," she said.
Learn more about Fellner and Lecorre-Moore on their websites.
