research starting point

My research is centred around the rural community in which I grew up in; Hope, BC. I will be approaching my research in a few different ways. As a photographer I want to using my lens as a way to look at the complex history of Hope and its Settler Colonial identity that is so deeply tethered to forms of extraction colonialism and White supremacy. I also will be looking at forms of “artifact”; Specifically I am collecting postcards, tourist souvenirs as well as “artifacts” from my adolescence. By doing this effort of collection I will be able to better engage with the legacies that are upheld and forms of white dominance that are upheld.

This is a place that is ever changing yet upholds a legacy built on forms of oppression. I will examine the legacy of logging, mining and the impact of the developing pipeline construction on community and forms of kinship as well as what it means to come of age in this tension. Through out this project I plan on engaging with Anti-colonial, Anti-capitalist and Indigenous/Intersectional Feminist theory. With that said I will also be reflecting on my own lived experience as it shapes my lens and approach to my art practice.

****Below is a experimental piece of writing I did for my research methods class; I have it hanging in my studio currently. I find it pulls forward some of the strongest ideas and thoughts i’m currently working with.