(Documentation) From Tacarigua to Treaty 7 Territory

This artwork marks an intimate exploration of cultural identity, bridging my Venezuelan-Indigenous roots with my lived experience in Mohkinstsis. In collaboration with a family member, I recreated the 1000-year-old “Venus” de Tacarigua figurine from snow in a field behind my home in Mohkinstsis. The pre-Columbian “Venus,” traditionally sculpted in clay, holds significant cultural importance in Venezuela as an emblem of ancestral heritage and connection to the land. By using snow—a material both ephemeral and deeply tied to the Treaty 7 landscape—I engage with themes of diaspora, displacement, and the reclamation of cultural symbols.

The installation features a grid of digital photographs documenting the snow sculpture from various angles and points of creation, alongside a continuous video projection of the three-hour creation process. The video captures the labor and care involved in reclaiming this cultural symbol, making the audience complicit in witnessing something fleeting take shape, emphasizing the urgency of cultural preservation.