Plains Cree artist reclaiming culture

It's time for Algoma University College's Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates to show their stuff.

The four of them will be doing just that at the Art Gallery of Algoma starting tomorrow and continuing for just four days so be sure and get there right away.

Exhibiting are Danielle Harmsen, Rebecca Danton, Nicole Swift and Jeannine Lillie

Lillie is a little worried about how her part of the show will be received.

The untitled show runs at the Art Gallery of Algoma from Wednesday, April 19 to Saturday, April 22.

It features the work of the four artitsts' graduating thesis and Lillie says hers is about her cultural identity as a Plains Cree person.

"We can change, we can do things differently," says Lillie.

The medium she chose for this show is digital renderings treated with resin, but the message is about the irony of cultural stereo typing that is diametrically opposed to her rich, contemporary, cultural life.

"I was born in the bush," says Lillie. "I am Plains Cree, from Fort Francis originally and grew up in Kenorah."

She highlights two examples from her show to illustrate the tension and the cultural allusions that many may miss.

"One is a black and white of Sitting Bull and he is standing in front of the castle at Disney Land," Lillie says. "I call it the Saddest Show on Earth."

She also talks about her piece, FBI illustration of the back of a Native Status card that incorporates C-31, a special status given to First Nations people who lost their status and have had it returned to them.

The piece also includes a reference to 1876, the year of the Indian Act but Lillie says she doubts that many people will catch the historical references or the irony in her work.

"I'm just not sure that people will get it," Lillie says.

She says that her anger with the fact that the Canadian government gets to decide who is native and who isn't was a galvanizing force behind both her thesis and her art show.

But the idea of exploring her cultural identity was one she's been pursuing for a while.

Lillie says that the physical separation of her family, juxtapositioned with its emotional closeness, made her start to question and explore her cultural identity several years ago.

She chose to stay in the Sault and enrol in the fine arts program at Algoma University when the rest of her family went back to Kenorah.

Her studies at Algoma University have given her various outlets for that exploration and mediums for its expression.

She said it has also given her a new sense of community and she intends to stay in the Sault a while longer after she graduates from the University.

"I just feel like I'm not quite finished here," said Lillie. "I feel like there is something more for me to do here."