This exhibition marks the beginning of a new chapter in my practice—a period of experimentation, movement, and renewed freedom. Presented at Ashdale Gallery and Gallery Merrick in collaboration with Mark Loria Gallery, this new body of work reflects a significant shift in my approach to painting and material. I have moved away from relying primarily on acrylic and have embraced mixed media, with crayons becoming an increasingly important part of my process.

This change may appear simple, but for me it represents something much deeper: a willingness to trust instinct, to take risks, and to allow the work to lead me somewhere unexpected. I am interested in spontaneity, freshness, colour, and the energy that emerges when I give myself permission to experiment. I want the viewer to feel that something is shifting—that the work is moving, transforming, and opening into new possibilities.

I think of this body of work as an act of “jumping into a new chapter” and, at the same time, “coming into one’s own identity.” Identity is not fixed. It continues to unfold through experience, memory, place, time, and change. My practice has always been shaped by this understanding, and I continue to challenge myself to remain open to transformation.

For me, confidence as an artist does not mean knowing exactly where a painting is going. It means having the confidence to experiment, to make mistakes, to change direction, and to follow an impulse without knowing where it will lead. I have become increasingly interested in that space between intention and discovery. A concept might arrive unexpectedly; I explore it, test it, and allow it to develop until it finds its own life within the work.

The continuum use of aquarelle crayons and collage in my practice has opened up that process in unexpected ways. There is an immediacy and physicality to the material that encourages a different kind of mark-making. Colour can become more direct, gestures can remain visible, and the surface can retain a sense of movement and play. Working across materials allows me to build, erase, layer, interrupt, and return. The paintings become records not only of an image or idea, but of the process of arriving there.

There is also a growing awareness of time within this work. Earlier in my career, I could move quickly through a painting—sometimes resolving a painting in a week. That is no longer the case. These works demand more from me. They take longer to resolve because I am allowing myself to sit with uncertainty and to remain in conversation with the painting. I am less interested in rushing toward completion and more interested in discovering what the work is asking of me.

That awareness of time has also created a sense of urgency. As a First Nations Elder, I feel more compelled to make art—to continue exploring, questioning, and leaving something of my experience in the world. This urgency is not about producing more. In fact, my production has slowed considerably. It is about making work that feels necessary.

There is a particular joy in this collection. The colour, the experimentation, and the physical act of working with these materials have brought a renewed sense of energy to my studio. I am excited for audiences to encounter that joy and to see the openness and expression that are emerging in this new work.

As a Plains Cree artist, my practice continues to evolve through an ongoing relationship with identity, experience, memory, and the world around me. I do not see this evolution as a departure from who I am, but as a continuation of becoming. To remain an artist is to remain open—to change, to question, and to discover.

This body of work is an embrace of that process. It is a shift, a risk, and a beginning. Most importantly, it is an invitation to keep moving forward.