Artist Statement

 Chataya Holy Singer

My art practice is based on various mediums to convey my ideas using photography, digital media, painting, performance, and drawing. I also work with traditional Blackfoot practices such as beading and sewing. I identify myself as a Blackfoot interdisciplinary contemporary artist.

I embrace my roots, history and spirituality that embodies my work and motivates myself as an emerging local artist. I feel it is my purpose to re-learn, re-kindle and revitalize my culture to honor my ancestors. My intentions are to represent the land of where I come from which is the Kainai (Blood) Tribe, as a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy located within Treaty 7 territory. It is my passion to fulfill the knowledge that has been stripped and taken away from my predecessors. I achieve this by reintegrating their legacy into my practice while voicing my own story. My life goal is to pass on my knowledge to the younger generation, as I aim to inspire the youth to continue to go to school and to relearn their culture. As an artist, I will continue breaking the intergenerational trauma cycles that have broken down the Indigenous identity for many generations.

Saaam (Medicine), is the title of my project for the Niche Gallery Exhibition. I filled a medicine bag that I have beaded and sewn together, with traditional medicinal herbs. Inside there is sweetgrass (sipatsimo), sage (ka’ksimii), tobacco (pisstaahkaan), sweet pine (katoyis), and spruce (patokh’i). Sweetgrass represents prayer (Aatsimoyihkaan), the sage represents cleansing, tobacco represents offerings, sweet pine represents spirituality, and spruce represents healing. These traditional medicines are examples of how they have been used historically by the Blackfoot for their remedial properties. Saaam brings an understanding to how these practices are still actively used today, offering traditional knowledge as a way of life while promoting health awareness.