Jeneen Frei Njootli
October 3rd – 26th , 2013

Jeneen Frei Njootli examines the cross points between colonization and Indigenous psychogeography in her installation, Thunderstruck; an architectural dream space. The artist seeks to understand the influence of the constructs of home spaces/places/nonplaces on one’s psyche. Large-scale screen prints on composite wood depict figures dressed in contemporary spirit regalia, which represent archetypes and heroes derived from a myth Frei Njootli’s practice is constructing. The figures interact with altered traditional objects such as muskrat traps, stretchers, antler, skins and ric rac. Thunderstruck explores the histories that materials embody and examines how they have shaped, helped and hindered First Nations peoples’ in their concept and creation of art, home, regalia, religion and community.

About the artist:

Moving between large cities, small communities, attending solstice ceremonies with her moms, hunting in the arctic, engaging with art institutions and holding shitty retail jobs, Jeneen Frei Njootli finally obtained her Bachelor Degree after a six-year stint at Emily Carr University in 2012.

Frei Njootli is a member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and is presently based between Banff, Alberta and Old Crow, Yukon. She worked on a project with Dylan Miner in January of 2012, titled Anishnaabensag Biimskowebshkigewag. This work exhibited at The Power Plant in Toronto as part ofBeat Nation: Aboriginal Art and Hip-Hop Culture in 2013 and was previously at The Vancouver Art Gallery in 2012. Frei Njootli has worked as a Curatorial Assistant for Rita Wong at Emily Carr University and as a Studio Work Study in the Visual Arts department at The Banff Centre for the arts. In 2012 she held workshops at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre and The Banff Centre. Her works have been published in Boulderpavement (2013), Kimiwan Magazine (2012), SAD Mag (2012), What’s Up Yukon (2012), Oops Magazine (Japan, 2012) and Rewire (2008).