Laura M. Hosaluk
Treaty 6 Territory, Saskatoon, CA
Maker & Mover
Painting the Prairie, Acrylic on Found Object, Hi Way 14, Kindersley, SK, CA, 2017
My creations open up spaces of wonder to contemplate the world around us, using art as a means to celebrate the human condition. I am curious about the power of installation art and how it connects to people. I draw upon my family history as content to tell stories. The experience of having a settler upbringing with no ethnic culture intact, apart from eating the food and sharing trauma, connects me to a personal and collective history of growing up on the prairies. These origins travel back in four geographies: Poland, Ukraine, Scotland, and England. I arrive in one unifying position – in Saskatchewan.
Natural materials combined with the re-creations made from found objects offer new-found journeys into the past and future. Their arrangements allow us to reconsider our relationship with the earth as human beings. I combine the refined and fragile medium of porcelain and the density and resilience of bronze against the precariousness and unique histories of found objects to express ideas in a way no other materials can.
XY Chromosome, Porcelain, Wood, Acrylic, 10x15x10, 2010, SK Arts Permanent Collection
My work explores the human condition with quirky and sometimes scary expressions that delve into themes that show our disembodied nature by fusing humans with objects. I combine the refined and fragile medium of porcelain and the density and resilience of bronze against the precariousness and unique histories of found objects to express ideas in a way no other materials can. My connections to the materials I choose invite the intuitive response that directs me in the work I create. These materials hold the entire mystery of our planet; refined, recycled, worn down over millions of years only to be discovered yet again, and take on new forms. I must trust these glimpses that are given to me and respond intuitively through my hands.
The Wait, Porcelain, Wood, Found Object, 10x10x10, 2010
Rise Up, Bronze, 5×3, 2010
These things build up, Porcelain, Wood, Hair, 15x20x17, 2010
Rattle Me, Porcelain, Wood, Acrylic, Found Object, 17x12x12 cm, 2010, Joe Fafard Private Collection
Mr.Fix It, Found Object, Ink on Paper, 8×10″, 2011, Photograph
Childs Play, Found Object, Ink on Paper, 8×10″, 2011, Photograph
Circa 1883 from Benbecula, Digital Transfer, Acrylic and Cheese Cloth, 16 x 12″, 2005
Prayerful With Your Wishes, Range Rd: 3070, Photograpthy, 2012
I acknowledge my existence, my life, family, and education has started on Treaty 6 Territory, and the same goes for the beginnings of my parents and their parents, taking root on the Territories of Indigenous peoples and the traditional homeland of the Métis.
My work and life aim to reconcile the treaties which honor Indigenous Philosophies and the Spirit in which Indigenous peoples signed them, which continue not to be honored to this day.Many of us live and have a home here on what we’ve come to call Canada, with significant advantages over the original hosts who continue to live with oppression. I support reconciliation and redress, starting with working with those I trust, and those who practice what they teach as a way to improve my Settler relationships for future generations.
If Legs Could Kill, Found Objects, Stonehouse Collaboration, 2016
My art practice guides me to where I have begun, a direct transmission of my mother and father, and their mother’s and father’s, traveling back in four strong, yet different directions, to arrive in one unifying position here in Saskatchewan. This excavation of my ancestry is a valuable exploration of Settler Culture. Engaging in this work is an active expression of healing and allows me to access new pathways in my own thinking. My hands are the tools.
Visit Sculptural Works to see full body in porcelain, wood and bronze.
Follow
