Victoria Kjargaard | Pieces

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Victoria Kjargaard, “untitled (from the series Pieces),” 2023

Resin, translucent paper, wax, 51 x 51 cm (Photo credit Kamloops Museum and Archives/Victoria Kjargaard) (courtesy of the Gallery)

This solo exhibition brings together the artwork of Vancouver-based, settler artist Victoria Kjargaard in dialogue with Nłeʔkepmx curator Elsie Joe. Though raised in Kamloops, Kjargaard knew little about the children’s graves found on the former property of the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS). These stories were quietly told within Tk̓emlúps and numerous other Indigenous communities until 2021, when the truth was brought to the wider public.

With the approval of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Chief and Council, Kjargaard embarked on Pieces to open a dialogue and confront her own shame, ignorance, anger, and sadness regarding the inconceivable truths of the KIRS. A series of images set with a process of pouring epoxy, sanding, and layering imagery represents Kjargaard’s own acknowledgment of Le Estcwicwéy̓ and related histories with the aspiration of collective healing and unity.