Looking at my French-Canadian heritage in the context of
How French-Canadians became White Folks. My first opportunity to visit Canada brought me to Toronto rather than Quebec or Montreal. I made these pieces during the
Feminist Art Conference Residency. I wanted to find French-Canadian "things" (non-food items). In advance of the trip, I'd researched "French-Canadian arts & crafts". From the crafts listed in my research, all I could find during my visit (with time/travel constraints) was polyester lace from the Salvation Army thrift store. Not quite real lace, but a perfect metaphor for my project, because I'm not quite French-Canadian (my maternal grandmother was, but she died in New York when my mother was two and we lost all contact with our French-Canadian relatives). I found French-Canadian manufactured bleach from the Toronto dollar store to bleach some of the fabric, and even items manufactured elsewhere had bilingual French/English packaging. At the dollar store, I also found Canadian versions of materials that I'm more familiar with, such as file folders (bilingual too!), bandaids, and white out. I got enough materials to continue experimenting with when I return to New York. Images of some of the new work below.
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Nom/Name II
Materials: file folder, correction fluid
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Nom/Name II
Materials: file folder, correction fluid |
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Nom/Name II
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Visiteur
Materials: plastic name badge holders, file folder pieces, polyester lace. |
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Nom/Name III
Materials: file folders, bandaids
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Nom/Name III
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