'It's kind of my first language': How 2 women are using art and film to heal

Filmmaker Beth Wishart MacKenzie first met Lana Whiskeyjack at a former residential school in Alberta.

She was interviewing survivors and children of survivors for research on healing circles at Blue Quills First Nations College when she ran into the Cree artist.

"She showed me at that time this terracotta sculpture, because she uses art as her way to healing and wellness," Wishart MacKenzie said.

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"I thought this sculpture was so arresting that I asked if we could follow her continuing process, and she agreed."

Whiskeyjack's mixed-media sculpture Losing My Talkdepicts a tortured face that represents her late uncle and the legacy of residential schools.It's at the heart ofWishart MacKenzie's latest film Lana Gets Her Talk, which is screening at Yellowknife's Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre as part of an installation pikiskwe-speak that's centred on Whiskeyjack's artwork.

"I use my art often to speak about the things I can't put words to," said Whiskeyjack, who is from the Saddle Lake reserve in Alberta. "It's kind of my first language."

Whiskeyjack said her mentor used to tell her that if she wanted to paint something ugly, she should make it beautiful.

"It's kind of my way of expressing the ugliness I sometimes feel enraged at what we have to experience as Indigenous people," she said. "Expressing it through art is one of my ways of not carrying that."

Travelling show

Thanks to a grant from Canada Council for the Arts, the two women have been taking their multimedia installation across the country to Edmonton, Montreal andOttawa.

During each stop, visitors gota chance to see the artist's sculpture up close and watch Wishart MacKenzie's film showingWhiskeyjack'sprocesscreating the piece.

The sculpture is part of a triptych that includes two other panels. It incorporates sand from the Blue Quill school where Whiskeyjack worked, and soil from inner-city Edmonton, where her uncle spent time living on the streets.

"He was my favourite uncle. He was a really funny guy when he came back home to visit us on the reserve," Whiskeyjack said. "When he left home, he lived on the streets of Edmonton and Vancouver."

Talkingreconciliation

The installation is also a chance for people to talkabout reconciliation. The womenhold a community talk on the subject at each place they visit.

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Wishart MacKenzie said they want to make those conversations happen, even if they include tough topics but do it in a "gentle" way so people can express themselves.

"We're hoping to create a space that people feel safe in," she said. "And to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians together."

The public can view the installation and film during upcoming screenings in YellowknifeonOct. 27, Nov. 1 and Nov. 10.

With files from Loren McGinnis and Rachel Zelniker