The paintings in Your Hands Touch Between Brambles allow visitors to connect with relatable memories of land and laughter.
The exhibition’s artist, Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet grew up in a multi-generational home on a quarter section of land west of St. Albert. Her moshom, Ernie Callihoo, has cared for the land for his entire life and it means everything to Kiona and her family. Ernie became the legal owner in 1958 after being offered the small plot as a miniscule financial payout from when the Michel Band was enfranchised and stripped of their collective First Nation Band status and the reserve lands.
Generations of Kiona’s family have lived, farmed and harvested on this land, remembering their history. Kiona paints her memories of planting and harvesting crops, family and laughter. She documents the deeply precious mundane gestures and jokes that are shared among family every day. Gentle and full of care, she creates a rich archive of their experiences and history: the emotions, senses and memories. And like memory, the paintings aren’t fixed. Areas of extreme detail blend with absences, and pencil sketches. In the works there is space for Kiona’s own memories to overlap with those of her family, and with those of exhibition visitors.
Sean spoke with Emily Baker, Art Gallery of St. Albert Curator and Artist Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet to find out more.
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