INTERWOVEN: ARCTIC

When the Settlement occupation was to take place onsite at the grounds of Pounds House in Central Park, Plymouth, UK in the spring of 2020, Iñupiaq, Athabascan artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs planned to create an ephemeral installation through simple mark making. Using land, nature and fiber as material, the work to address metaphorically both the relationship between Western and Indigenous peoples and the relationship of these groups to the rest of the natural world. This installation was to invite participants to confront and reflect upon Western consumption and Indigenous stewardship, alongside healing and historical trauma.

“The above statement is still near and dear to my heart, but as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, I began to focus inward, and my project has evolved. My intention was to do a large work from my series Interwoven, utilizing flags and natural materials from the nations of Settlement artists, volunteers and community participants. Instead I have begun a work titled Interwoven: Arctic. It is a commentary on the resilience of the Inuit Nation despite hundreds of years of colonization and all the ills that come alongside it.” - Sonya Kelliher-Combs