Mariel Belanger, The Earth Reclaimed her
MFA student, Mariel Belanger is the next Artist-in-Residence in Studio 111 from June 26th to July 8th, working on a project entitled The Earth Reclaimed Her.
During her residency, Mariel will work with a hide tanning frame, tuli reed mats, and her wedding dress collection, onto which images will be projected. As creative research, the intent of the project is to create a constructed projection space that is both aesthetically pleasing and will be documented for later installation work. Working with digital photography, Mariel is digitizing and constructing various parts to “They Connect” a story about a young Sylix woman on the cusp of a rite of passage.
Mariel Belanger is of the Nkmaplqs–Okanagan Indian band, a part of the Syilx–Okanagan Nation, in the interior of BC. She is currently a MFA Interdisciplinary Performance candidate at UBCO where here research is focused on Performance Theory, Indigenous Epistemologies, and Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Mariel will also be working with Dr. Shawn Brigman on tukʷtniɬxʷ – tule mat house: Indigenizing the Built Environment on the UBC Okanagan campus from July 11-14, in conjunction with the FCCS Summer Indigenous Intensive.
Studio 111 supported by the University of British Columbia Okanagan Faculty of Creative & Critical Studies and co-organized by the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art.
Toby Lawrence, a PhD student in FCCS, has been working over the last eight months to bring activities into this space that are not confined to the parameter of conventional art galleries.
The public is welcome to drop by the studio until July 8th to learn more about this project and Mariel’s work, and are invited to attend an opening reception on Friday, July 7th from 6 to 8 pm in the studio.
For more information, contact Toby Lawrence, curator/facilitator at ubcostudio111@gmail.com
Studio 111, Rotary Centre for the Arts, 111-421 Cawston Ave., Kelowna, BC