"Dunuyis: Learning Community"
A Solo Exhibition by Kai Isadore-Smith
November 6 - 30, 2024
Opening reception: Wed. November 6
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm
About the Artist
I am Tsek’ene Dene from McLeod Lake and queer. My practice centers on hide tanning, beading, photography and archival research. I currently live in Unceded Coast Salish Territory, so called “Vancouver, BC”. My work is deeply bound to my relationships, which significantly influences how I navigate my art practice. Creating material culture has become a tangible and effective way for me to connect to myself, my community, and the land that I come from. I am a part of a larger collective movement working to strengthen the traditional cultural practices of hide tanning, language use, and land stewardship that are crucial to our survivance as Dene people. I work alongside community members Tricia Livingston (Tsek’ene/Kaska Dene), Faye Seymour (Dunne-za), Onadee McKenna (Zapotec/ Secwepemc), and Angela Hocken (Tsek’ene/Kaska Dene).
About the Exhibition
The works I am sharing explore community-building through the practice of hide tanning, a collaborative process rooted in care, reciprocity, critical thinking, and radical love. Created alongside my relatives and mentors, these pieces reflect the deep connections formed through learning to hide tanning.
I actively reference the work of Black radical intellectuals such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, and James Baldwin, whose writings emphasize the need for solidarity and transformative action to dismantle oppressive systems. bell hooks highlights how racism, patriarchy, and capitalism are interdependent, reinforcing one another to perpetuate inequality. She stresses that resistance must center on love, community, and solidarity.
As Indigenous peoples, collective memory forms the basis of solidarity, urging us to unite in dismantling oppressive systems, especially those from which we benefit, and to take action against the ongoing violence perpetrated against our Indigenous kin. In recognizing and understanding this, we honor our ancestors, families, and communities while embracing our responsibility to take meaningful action.
"Love is an action, never simply a feeling... To love is to resist domination and oppression." — bell hooks, All About Love.
By sharing this work, I hope to encourage reflection and share insight into my ongoing process of learning in community.
If you're interested in purchase any of the pieces, please contact the artist directly at: [email protected]
A Solo Exhibition by Kai Isadore-Smith
November 6 - 30, 2024
Opening reception: Wed. November 6
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm
About the Artist
I am Tsek’ene Dene from McLeod Lake and queer. My practice centers on hide tanning, beading, photography and archival research. I currently live in Unceded Coast Salish Territory, so called “Vancouver, BC”. My work is deeply bound to my relationships, which significantly influences how I navigate my art practice. Creating material culture has become a tangible and effective way for me to connect to myself, my community, and the land that I come from. I am a part of a larger collective movement working to strengthen the traditional cultural practices of hide tanning, language use, and land stewardship that are crucial to our survivance as Dene people. I work alongside community members Tricia Livingston (Tsek’ene/Kaska Dene), Faye Seymour (Dunne-za), Onadee McKenna (Zapotec/ Secwepemc), and Angela Hocken (Tsek’ene/Kaska Dene).
About the Exhibition
The works I am sharing explore community-building through the practice of hide tanning, a collaborative process rooted in care, reciprocity, critical thinking, and radical love. Created alongside my relatives and mentors, these pieces reflect the deep connections formed through learning to hide tanning.
I actively reference the work of Black radical intellectuals such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, and James Baldwin, whose writings emphasize the need for solidarity and transformative action to dismantle oppressive systems. bell hooks highlights how racism, patriarchy, and capitalism are interdependent, reinforcing one another to perpetuate inequality. She stresses that resistance must center on love, community, and solidarity.
As Indigenous peoples, collective memory forms the basis of solidarity, urging us to unite in dismantling oppressive systems, especially those from which we benefit, and to take action against the ongoing violence perpetrated against our Indigenous kin. In recognizing and understanding this, we honor our ancestors, families, and communities while embracing our responsibility to take meaningful action.
"Love is an action, never simply a feeling... To love is to resist domination and oppression." — bell hooks, All About Love.
By sharing this work, I hope to encourage reflection and share insight into my ongoing process of learning in community.
If you're interested in purchase any of the pieces, please contact the artist directly at: [email protected]