Tracey-Mae Chambers will create a site-specific textile artwork for the Visual Arts Centre, in the 3-storey stairwell visible from Victoria Avenue. The installation, crocheted, knit and woven with red wool, silk and cotton yarn, is part of an ongoing series, #hopeandhealingcanada, which has been presented at various sites across North America. As the artist states: ‘‘I grew up as a stranger to my own story; adopted and re-named, grafted into a new family tree. The discovery in adulthood of my Métis heritage was a revelation that set me on a path of discovery. I often work in the powerful tradition of the vessel as metaphor for individuals: we fill and re-fill ourselves throughout life to create our own story. My work is my developing story as an Indigenous woman and my quest for harmony with the natural world.’’
Themes of hope and healing animate Chambers' work, which symbolically connects a fractured society with tangled red threads. For Chambers, red is the colour of blood. Red is the slur against Indigenous people. Red is the colour of passion and anger, danger and power, courage, and love.
The vernissage and ‘art hive’ event includes a hands-on knitting and crochet workshop, a presentation by the artist and a discussion with participants. The event aims to encourage exchange and open up perspectives to decolonize public and social space and act as a starting point for a dialogue on truth and reconciliation.
Tracey-Mae Chambers is a proud citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Her ancestors are from the Drummond Island community as well as Mackinac Island. Working in fibre and sculpture, she has created over 150 installations since July 2021 at residential school historical sites, museums, galleries and other public spaces, many of which serve to present a colonial viewpoint that primarily speaks about the settlers who arrived and live here, but not the Indigenous people who were displaced along the way. Through her work the artist hopes to bridge the gap between settlers and First Nations, Métis and Inuit people by starting a conversation about decolonization and reconciliation.
