Artist Panel: The Practice of Earthwork

This panel brings together three artists featured in —Lisa Myers, Michael Belmore, and Art Hunter—to discuss their practices and reflect on how their works engage with ideas of “Earth work.” Encompassing contemporary art forms such as sculpture, photography, and performance, as well as land-based practices outside of the gallery frame, this panel considers a range of interventions made from Indigenous perspectives. This panel is moderated by Earthwork curator, Mikinaak Migwans.

Following the panel, join us for a reception in Earthwork at the University of Toronto Art Centre together with the curator, some of the artists, colleagues, and the community.

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Speaker Bios

Michael Belmore employs a variety of materials and processes that at times may seem disjointed, yet, the reality is that together his work and processes speak about the environment, about land, about water, and what it is to be Anishinaabe. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, he completed his Masters of Fine Art at the University of Ottawa in 2019.

Practicing for over 25 years, Belmore is an internationally recognized artist and is represented in the permanent collections of various institutions including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian Institute. Belmore is a member of Unsettled Ground Artists Inc and is currently involved in the creation of a multi-year public art project for four light rail stations as part of Phase 2 of Ottawa Light Rail. His exhibitions include: Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art at the Peabody Essex in Salem, MA and HIDE: Skin as Material and Metaphor at the National Museum of the American Indian – George Gustav Heye Centre in New York.

Seemingly small things, simple things, inspire his work; the swing of a hammer, the warmth of a fire, the persistence of waves on a shore. Through the insinuation of these actions, a much larger consequence is inferred.

Art Hunter is from Manitou Rapids, Rainy River First Nations. Art began contributing to the Story Nations project as an interpreter at Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre in 2012. He is interested in learning more about the seven distinct communities that became Rainy River First Nations, and is passionate about preserving and sharing community histories.

Lisa Myers is a curator and artist keen on interdisciplinary collaboration and focuses on various media and materials including video, audio, printmaking, digital arts and socially engaged art approaches. Through her practice, she considers place, underrepresented histories/present/futures, and collective forms of knowledge exchange. As an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Myers holds a York Research Chair in Indigenous Art and Curatorial Practice and is the coordinator of the Environmental Arts and Justice program. Myers is an off reserve and proud member of Beausoleil First Nation and is based in both Toronto and Port Severn, ON.

Mikinaak Migwans, a member of Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History and Curator of Indigenous Art in the Art Museum at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the politics of placemaking from the land to the museum, with special emphasis on textile arts in Anishinaabe territory. Migwans has worked with the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts & Culture at Carleton University, the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng First Nation, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

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Lisa Myers’ visit to Richard Serra’s Shift. Photo by Mikinaak Migwans.

Info: Taking place in Earthwork at the University of Toronto Art Centre, University College

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