Multidisciplinary artist Skeena Reece will give an artist talk on Wednesday, Jan. 27, in support of her newly opened exhibition in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The exhibition, entitled Honey and Sweetgrass, opens Jan. 25 at the Duke Hall Gallery. Works from across Skeena’s diverse practice will be on view, including performance art, videos, photography and installation works. The works advance Skeena’s ongoing engagement with “Indigenous culture, myth and humour,” and examination of “racial stereotypes and the effects of colonization,” according to the gallery.

“Skeena Reece is an important voice in contemporary art,” Beth Hinderliter, director of the Duke Hall Gallery, says. “She offers us insight into the care, compassion and strength of Indigenous women as well as giving us critiques of the violence of colonialism.”

Based on the West Coast of BC, Skeena is of Tsimshian/Gitksan and Cree descent. She studied media arts at Emily Carr University, and cites works by legendary Indigenous artists including Henry Green, Dempsey Bob and Robert Davidson as seminal to her earliest experiences of art. Skeena also credits award-winning multidisciplinary recording artist Kinnie Starr as introducing her to performance media such as spoken word.

In 2012, Skeena received a Fulmer Award in First Nations Art. In 2014, she received a Viva Award (2014). She has also been celebrated for her acting, winning a Leo Award for best actress in 2010 for her work on Savage, a film by Lisa Jackson. She participated in the 17th Sydney Biennale in Australia. Her work has been on view in a number of solo exhibitions in recent years.

You can tune in to her artist talk on Jan. 27, 2021, at 2pm PST. Be sure to register beforehand for the free event.

You can also catch her in conversation with Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery’s curator of education & public programs Josh Heuman this past September, via Vimeo.