Rosalie Favell

Drawing inspiration from my family history and Métis (Cree/English) heritage, I use a variety of sources, from family albums to popular culture, to present a complex self-portrait of my experiences as a contemporary Aboriginal woman. In one of my adventures, "I awoke to find my spirit had returned," the desire to go home is always present even as I question where home is. The leap that I make in this work is in making the connection between this history, both personal and cultural, and the characters of Xena, Warrior Princess, Dorothy in the classic story The Wizard of Oz and Louis Riel. Riel is often quoted (including in my work) as saying, "My people will sleep for one hundred years and when they awake, it will be the artist that gives them their spirit back..." Riel as prophet or Wizard of Oz is telling us that everything that we need is right inside of us, that all roads lead to home, that being true to our people is the way to recover our pride, our self-respect.

– Rosalie Favell