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 (Indigenous Blackfoot name for Calgary, Canada). 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.