Manuel Axel Strain: We go to the Mountains, we go to the Big Water

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Manuel Axel Strain, "Manny's Chair," 2022

Manuel Axel Strain: We go to the Mountains, we go to the Big Water

Manuel Axel Strain goes to the Mountains and to the Big Water in Newest Body of Work at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art

Manuel Axel Strain is a 2Spirit artist from the lands and waters of the xwməθkwəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred homelands of their q̓ ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) and qʼwa:n̓ ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) relatives. In their newest body of work, We go to the Mountains, we go to the Big Water, Strain incorporates the creative contributions of their family into their exhibition in the Main Gallery.

Although they attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design they prioritize Indigenous epistemologies through the embodied knowledge of their family and ancestors, as visible in their exhibition. By creating artwork in collaboration with and in reference to their relatives, their shared experiences become a source of agency that resonates through their interdisciplinary practice.

This exhibition features stories of Strain’s relatives that allude to the enduring wisdom and vitality of Indigenous families. This work is about the time-honoured passages to and from Strain’s paternal and maternal ancestral homelands, as experienced by their family members. For Strain, these experiences evoke the seasonal run that salmon take between bodies of water.

“We go to the Mountains, we go to the Big Water explores a unique approach to creative practice and collaboration” Artistic and Administrative Director Lorna McParland describes. “Through a combination of installation, video, and performance, Strain contextualizes their family’s narratives and their personal and political experiences within a gallery context, and underscores the importance of intergenerational sharing and collective memory.”

For this exhibition Strain collaborated with Tracey Eustache, Eric Strain, Condesa Strain, Quintasket Strain, Segwses Strain, Cam Strain, Elli-May Eustache, Julie Eustache, and Kalli Van Stone.