Melanie Monique Rose: Held - Colour stories from the land
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Neutral Ground 1835 Scarth Street, Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 2G2
Melanie Monique Rose, "Kokums Bubushka," 2022
silk dyed with seasonal plants, 34" x 55". Photo by Sage Wosminity.
OPENING RECEPTION: Melanie Monique Rose: HELD - Colour stories from the land
Saturday August 6th | 5 - 7pm in partnership with Regina Folk Festival
Join us from 5-7pm on August 6, 2022 for a reception to celebrate a new exhibition, curated by Neutral Ground’s 2022 Summer Student: Sage Wosminity. The exhibition will be mounted in Neutral Ground’s Window Gallery, feature work by local artist Melanie Monique Rose. Refreshments provided. We hope that you can join us and kindly ask attendees wear masks. Complimentary masks will be available at the door.
HELD – Colour stories from the land explores feelings of kinship. Silk scarves created by Melanie Monique Rose serve as a link between the artist’s Metis and Ukrainian heritage. Through the process of creating these scarves, Melanie hopes to create her own ultimate Kokum scarf or Babushka as an ode to her ancestors and an exploration of relationships between the Metis and Ukrainian settlers. The materials used as part of natural dyeing processes are gathered thoughtfully and respectfully from the land of Treaty 4, whispering their stories back. The natural materials collected from the land raise questions surrounding the transmission of Ancestral knowledge. If we are unable to learn directly from our ancestors can the plants we encounter act as conduits for this knowledge? Through the experience of gathering regional flora the artist also gathers ancestral teachings as she ponders how her forebearers have used these plants before her. Were they used for medicine, food, or perhaps colour? The action of imprinting flowers and other botanical subjects onto silk scarves helps capture these precious stories in time, preserving their memories and teachings within the fabric.
Melanie Monique Rose is a visual artist from Regina, Saskatchewan Treaty 4 Territory, and a long-time contributing member of Sâkêwêwak Artists’ Collective Inc. She attended Kootenay School of the Arts with a major in the Fibre Arts in Nelson, B.C. Melanie has exhibited her artwork in both group and solo exhibitions. One of her greatest honors was to receive the distinction of Excellence in Textiles in the Saskatchewan Craft Council’s Dimension’s 2013 touring show. In 2020, CBC celebrated Melanie as a Future 40 for her work in arts and culture. Most recently she was a recipient of the Saskatchewan Foundation of the Arts Endowment Award. In addition to showing her work, Melanie has worked in the province as gallery facilitator, story-keeper, and art instructor for the Mackenzie Art Gallery and teaches various workshops at both public and private institutions. In 2018 her daughter Meadow Rose was born. Melanie is currently a full-time mom, caregiver, and artist. Becoming a mother has increased her desire to share the stories of her culture and family and has challenged the way she creates independently and as a shared experience with her daughter.
Sage Wosminity is an emerging curator from Regina, Saskatchewan located on Treaty 4 Territory. Sage has a history in fashion design exhibiting numerous collections in both Saskatchewan and Alberta. Sage is currently pursuing an honors degree in Art History and is an avid supporter of the arts in Regina.
ARTIST WORKSHOP: MELANIE MONIQUE ROSE
Wednesday August 17, 2022, 6:30 - 8:30pm
Hosted In-Person
Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre 1835 Scarth Street
Join Melanie Monique Rose as she shares bundle dyeing techniques on silk and produce your own hand dyed scarf using natural and locally foraged materials.
Necessary materials will be provided with your registration fee. Participants are also invited to share their own natural materials. More information will be shared with those who register.