WL Altman | Of Earth

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WL Altman, "Of Earth"

still from the exhibition Of Earth. Photo courtesy of the artist.

RECEPTION: December 17, 4-6pm

Artist Statement 

The exhibition, Of Earth consists of three multimedia installations which are the results of creative research spurred by a desire to reconnect with this territory in light of my Métis heritage. In addition to genealogical research substantiating my Métis lineage, my creative research included grounded interactions with the land. Over a four year period (2017 to 2021) I wandered river banks, sat in a hole, and dug another one. I contemplated Earth, its resonance and materiality, its life-bearing essence, and its indivisible interconnection with, in, and through all forms of life—the very embodiment of life. I considered the land, the plants, and animals that dwell on it, the weather, and the seasons of the year, the stars in the sky, the rivers, the grass, the air, my family and ancestors, and what I identify as myself. Through reading, talking with Métis scholars and artists, and through creative experimentation I developed a fuller understanding of Indigenous epistemology and ontology. Indigenous ways of knowing and being, combined with my physical and emotional engagement with the land caused me to reconsider my previous ways of thinking about the land and making art, ways that were formed within modernism and colonialist prescriptions about land, possession, and belonging(s), attitudes which served to sever my connection with the land of my birth. Of Earth expresses my journey of reconnection: to the land, to my roots, to my true self, and to a more holistic way of making art and living life.

Artist Bio

WL Altman was born and raised on Treaty 6 Territory in Saskatoon. With a background and training in music, his practice has evolved from music composition and performance into broader interdisciplinary work that uses diverse media to bring together sound, music, image, materials, and ideas into a hybrid form of performance and installation art.