Jaimie Isaac | Brings to Light

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Jaimie Isaac, "Knowledge As Territory: 4 Ways (detail)," 2022

mixed media. Courtesy of the Gallery.

Brings to Light is an exhibition of mixed media sculpture, installations, performance and film created by Jaimie Isaac responding to the legacy of the Residential School system (IRSS) and colonial structures that devalued Indigenous knowledge systems and restricted rich cultural languages and traditions.

In this time of unearthing unimaginable truths of the IRSS, families and communities are trying to find meaningful ways for dialogue and to heal.  Brings to Light is a personal story of intergenerational Indigenous experiences of trauma, memory, resiliency and reclamation. Isaac’s mother, grandparents and other relatives attended Fort Alexander Residential School (FARS) which was located in Sagkeeng First Nation on Treaty One Territory. In addition to presenting earlier pieces, Brings to Light includes new works that address intergenerational knowledge and language reclamation, reflecting Isaac’s journey of knowledge repatriation and access to Anishinaabemowin from her grandmother, Elder Mary Courchene.

The exhibition includes a series of integral public program events: a film screening, feast, conversations, and a bilingual (English/Anishinaabemowin) publication. Brings to Light will generate dialogue around kin, community and knowledge of intergenerational significance.

Jaimie Isaac is an interdisciplinary artist and curator, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Treaty 1 Territory, and is of mixed heritage (Anishinaabe and British descent). She holds an undergraduate degree in Art History from The University of Winnipeg and a Masters of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia. Isaac co-founded The Ephemerals, a female Indigenous artist collective, which was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2017 and 2019. In collaboration with other artists and independently, Isaac has exhibited and presented installations, performances and moving image works nationally and internationally. Her most recent public artwork is the sculpture, The Eighth and Final Fire, launched at the Forks in December of 2021. Isaac is the Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and is dedicated to making space for womxn, BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+ voices and decolonizing art and cultural institutions. Prior to this position, she served as the Curator of Indigenous and Contemporary Arts at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for more than six years. Isaac has published writing in numerous exhibition catalogues, art magazines and academic journals. She is an honouree for Leaders of Tomorrow from the Manitoba Museum 50th Tribute Awards 2020, CBC Future 40 Finalist 2020, and the Canadian Museums Association recipient for an outstanding achievement award in exhibitions category with the Boarder X exhibition, 2021.