Bev Koski

To me, resilience emerges out of engagement with those things that block my agency. Resilience is refusing to remain passive in a situation and muddling through anyway.  As an artist I work through issues materially, learning as I make things.

A few years ago I began beading over small kitsch objects depicting Indigenous North Americans. Having lived with the stereotypes these items convey, I thought it might be empowering and funny to take them out of circulation by covering them with beads, my favourite medium. But I discovered that the results tended to be disturbing rather than funny. My sympathy for the little figures often grew until I couldn’t bring myself to cover their eyes. Many gaze out in embarrassment from behind a beaded modesty cover, a plight I hadn’t anticipated. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to change these objects, to have learned from that process and to share them with others.

– Bev Koski