Patience = Zero :)

I should have known I was setting myself up for drama when I decided to make a piece about "Patience."

The last week and a bit I have been trying to work not only on this video, but on other projects, with chronic neck problems, Stomach flu, and an unpredictable computer.  At this point I have used up most of my Sala, and don't think I will be able to fully reflect until I am feeling more balanced out.

I have decided to take a break from digital media a.s.a.p.  My mission to "fuse" my digital work with visual art and performance has ended up being somewhat one-sided.  I am really feeling the urge to paint and make sculptures in the silence of the studio.

Here are 3 Images from my recent shoot:

Sala - Ovoid Erasure

Sala - Un-masking

Sala - Ovoid Erasure b/w

 Artist Statement 

 

Sala = Patience is the first installation of the Wuulhu Digitial 
 series. Wuulhu comes from the Wuikila language, and means "to fuse together." In the Wuulhu Digital series words will be re-interpreted through the fusion of traditional and digital technology. Sala (Patience) comes from the Heiltsuk language and is a word we have used while working in the studio, during technical glitches, and in moments of pressure, repetition and practice. This moving-image montage is the recording of a live-mural performance and it will be continually remixed when online and in live-settings. Sala is produced through labour, chance and enacting performance on the subject of patience.

The carved mask that is worn in the piece is the first mask I made while training with my Heiltsuk relatives, Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn Hunt and Dean Hunt. The mask is called Kvulus Transformer. Kvulus is a Thunderbird being who has the ability to change between supernatural bird and human form, often changing into human when its feathers become too hot on its inner-skin. Kvulus with an egg on top of its head is the main crest that is represented by my family in Wuikinuxv.

This mask contains “traditional” elements, but presently it would not be danced ceremonially back home. It does not represent the traditional depiction of the Kvulus thunderbird mask, it instead reflects the transformation from human into the supernatural state. Previously, I have worn this mask in a performance art piece and received some second-hand criticism from an semi-anonymous source, for wearing it in that kind of setting. The question I wanted to ask this person was when should can it be worn? If not in ceremony, and if not in an arts setting, then where? Should I just sell this mask, keep it in a box, or hang it on a wall? Selling our masks to outsiders has been an acceptable occupation for a long time, but keeping them for personal expression seems to be taboo in some instances. If feel like we are sometimes stuck trying to re-create the past, because so much was taken away by Colonization. I feel like the movement to re-claim our traditions should also include our work taking new forms. This is how our People traditionally operated, like most artists, reacting to and interpreting the environment around them.

I have carved items intended for the ceremonial Big House and family Potlatch, but have realized that there are a whole set of protocols I need to address in order to make this happen. I have hung onto all pieces that I have carved and turned down offers of money for them in hopes that they can be danced and their spirits sung.....Sala.....Sala....Sala.

The ovoid shapes that are seen in the making this piece are forms that are practiced over and over again by Northwest Coast artists, and they become a signature of each individual. What is needed to create this shape, taking into account positive and negative space, line-composition and blood memory is the practice of Sala.

Near the end of the piece when the ovoid is covered over. I intend this not as an act of frustration or violence. I intend this to reflect the ephemeral nature of creation.  I have an non-conventional views when it comes to preserving artwork.  I have put many of my pieces in the fire or have painted over them.  I feel like this is based in the action of wanting to renew and intuition to revise.  Traditionally, where I am from we would let our carved figures go back into the the elements after they became "rotten." There was not the insane notion to archive, and tag and display everything as is done in a museum. At Potlatches ceremonial items are burned to mark a renewal and release. By covering the ovoid I am opening myself up to the future.

I want to expose myself and reveal moments of pressure, play, pain, and practice. I chose to make nocturnal isolation a requirement for its production as well. Sala also reflects my desire to be uncomfortable within my work. From this discomfort I feel I remain fresh in my steps. A non-linear movement with no defined finish line, requiring patience...Sala.