333 Alchemy

05/17/2024

Excited to share that I will have two poems and one photo published in the -miut zine alongside several other talented Inuk creatives. You can get your copy by subscribing to Inuit Art Quarterly by May 26.

04/03/2024

Gabriola Island friends! It’s the last chance to sign up for my 2-part workshop taking place Wednesday April 3rd & Saturday April 6th at the Gabriola Arts and Heritage Centre as part of the Isle of the Arts Festival 🎨

I’ll be guiding you through the process of journeying with and creating abstract self portraits of your facade self, hurt self, and ultimately your TRUE self underneath. Not gonna lie, the last time I guided these workshops it was both deeply heavy (in a healing way) and profound.

Looking forward to holding intentional creative space for you!!

Register through the url listed on the photo.

03/02/2024

Our first Sexual Shame Sharing Circle was potent and beautiful! It was truly a gift to witness and feel into what everyone expressed. I am still processing a lot of emotions about what came up for me and am also feeling grateful for how powerful this simple process of sharing is.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all carry sexual shame due to the culture of emotional suppression we live in. When we begin to express shame and share what we carry shame about, it can begin to dissolve and heal; shame dies when stories are told in spaces of acceptance.

Group facilitators Jessica Miinguuaqtii and Grace Kim are both passionate about processing emotions in order to heal. They are aware of their own sexual shame and wish to work through it in community in order to collectively heal from it. Sexual energy is creative, life-force energy; when we release sexual shame, we open to greater creative expression.

In these sessions, participants will take turns sharing what we have sexual shame about. When someone is sharing, the rest of the group will engage in active listening to observe their own emotions while holding space for others. Grace and Jess will provide journalling prompts to encourage further reflection and emotional processing.

Registration link in bio. Open to folx of all genders.

You are welcome to pay a donation amount of your choice for attending.

Further counselling support can be provided to those who wish, through separate 1-on-1 sessions.

01/17/2024

The BC Alliance for Arts + Culture is undertaking a multi-year community engaged research project in collaboration with partners across the province. The project explores the benefits of prescribing arts and culture experiences to enhance people’s health and wellness. This idea is also known as .....

01/16/2024

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all carry sexual shame due to the culture of emotional suppression we live in. When we begin to express shame and share what we carry shame about, it can begin to dissolve and heal; shame dies when stories are told in spaces of acceptance.

Group facilitators Jessica Miinguuaqtii and Grace Kim are both passionate about processing emotions in order to heal. They are aware of their own sexual shame and wish to work through it in community in order to collectively heal from it. Sexual energy is creative, life-force energy; when we release sexual shame, we open to greater creative expression.

In these sessions, participants will take turns sharing what we have sexual shame about. When someone is sharing, the rest of the group will engage in active listening to observe their own emotions while holding space for others. Grace and Jess will provide journalling prompts to encourage further reflection and emotional processing.

Register here: https://www.333alchemy.earth/events/sexual-shame-sharing-circle

You are welcome to pay a donation amount of your choice for attending.

Further counselling support can be provided to those who wish, through separate 1-on-1 sessions.

09/19/2022

Posted • .earth This is my first Inuit wall hanging. I’ve been learning how to sew them from my great auntie, Elder Levinia Brown over Zoom for the past year and on my recent trip to my ancestral homeland of the area around Rankin Inlet, NU for the first time. I’ve had the privilege of learning this practice as a result of a Indigenous Arts Scholarship and Mentorship grant.

Sewing is an Inuit survival skill. Traditionally, all women needed to learn how to sew and all men needed to learn how to hunt before they were able to marry, each bringing these survival skills to their partnership. Of course there were two-spirited and gender diverse Inuit since time immemorial as well, but the teaching I received does not mention this dynamic.

This synthetic felt wall hanging is far from what my ancestors would have created for survival - parkas, amauti and kamiks were and still are a priority - but I am grateful to be carrying on the sewing tradition in my own way, beginning to use culturally relevant imagery to illustrate and tell stories in the style of my Auntie who has so generously shared her designs and techniques with me.

Image description: a multicoloured felt wallhanging design on a white background illustrating a yellow sun, two lavender snow geese, a wild rainbow or northern lights, blue ocean waves, a grey arctic char and signed by the artist in stitched Inuktitut syllabics

07/26/2022

Plant Medicine
acrylic & graphite on birch panel
102cm x 154cm x 4cm

Value: $3333
Sold for: $999

My artwork is now available through “pay what you can” pricing

Over the years I have heard countless times, “I’d love to own one of your pieces but I can’t afford it” or “I wish I had the money...maybe one day.” Sometimes I’d sell a painting and feel “successful” for a little while. But I always had a big inventory of “expensive” paintings in storage and they were often damaged after having to move them. It wasn’t working.

I’ve since been experimenting with allowing folx to pay what they can for my art and so far it has been beautiful! I share the value but leave the amount they choose to pay me open.

In the beginning, this triggered my scarcity programming and fears of being taken advantage of. It showed me where I had wounding around money, worth and value to heal from. This is still an ongoing process.

My artwork has nothing to do with my value, it is a gift I have to give. Why would I want to withhold my gifts from anyone who they could help or bring joy to?

I want to live in a world where money does not dictate how we choose to share our gifts, whether they be in the form of physical goods or intangible services. I truly believe that equity is possible, and in order to make it a reality, I must embody equitable practices and lead by the example I wish to live.

In the beginning, this experiment stirred up all of my resistance and was triggering, but I held firm and moved through those feelings to get to the other side. I feel I am there now.

In the past month I have sold a painting for it’s full value as well as this one for 30% of its value and each transaction has made me equally grateful. I also gifted a painting to my naturopathic doctor in exchange for payment for some sessions.

I currently have some paintings that need homes before I set out on the road on August 1st. My nomadic lifestyle does not support holding onto inventory. If you’ve ever wanted one of my artworks and couldn’t afford it, now you can. No offer made in kindness will be refused. First come first served.

07/24/2022

Planning to deliver this piece on Monday, so it’s crunch time.

I love how my guides tell me exactly what the painting needs, and where. I don’t hesitate anymore. I hear “bright pinky orange” and I reach for the paint tubes and intuitively know how to mix the the exact shade of peach that appeared in my mind’s eye.

None of this is me. It is a gift that I am merely open to receive. When they say someone is gifted it doesn’t only refer to their skill or talent. It refers to their capacity as a vessel to receive gifts from Creator/God/Source.

Painting has become a channeled conversation with my guides; I ask, “tell me what colour it needs” or “where do I need more yellow?” If I ask, I receive. In this respect, I am truly gifted.

Do you ask your guides for guidance?

07/24/2022

In May I had the honour of hosting the arts collective while I was a visitor within Snuneymuxw territory, completing my artist residency on Gabriola Island. We visited S’ul-hween X’pey (Elder Cedar Nature Reserve) and ._.phillips caught me paying my respects after putting down to***co, generously shared by .

I’m currently staying within Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) territory of Nex̱wlélex̱m (Bowen Island), preparing to visit K'ómoks territory (commonly known as Courtenay), on to Kwakwaka'wakw territory to go on a kayaking expedition out of Telegraph Cove before heading up to Haida Gwaii.

Indigenous Peoples have been stewards of the land since time immemorial and the common place names we are familiar with as a result of colonization are quite new, comparatively

Something I am actively unlearning is to default to these common names out of habit and convenience. I’m also learning to be conscious of the privilege I have to travel within and throughout multiple territories as a visitor, uninvited by the host nations. The very least I can do is be conscious of whose territory I am within at any given time and pay my respects

I do this by offering to***co to the land and praying for my healthy ancestors to connect with the ancestors of that territory in a good way and to watch over me on my journey, reminding me to be humble with every step

This practice is new to me because I grew up fairly disconnected from my culture. I am learning so that I can undo the harm I have unconsciously caused as a result of internalized colonialism. Although colonization is not something I personally caused, it is something I have perpetuated as a result of the society we live in. It is my responsibility to decolonize so that I can become a good ancestor

I invite you to connect to the lands you reside and travel within, paying your respects to the Host Nation(s) and their unceded territories through a ceremony, prayer or gesture from your own culture

Its our shared responsibility to protect and nurture the land for generations to come. It is our responsibility to decolonize.

06/15/2022

Last Thursday I guided my final workshop, as part of my artist residency, The Art of Communication: What Languages Do You Speak, along with visiting artists Celeste Johnson and Pablo Ochoa .

This event was a sort of pilot project, testing out a co-led, collaborative, visual art, dance and live music workshop and it was wonderful. I am always inspired by participants, but this was on another level. One participant was so enthusiastically spontaneous that they spat upon their artwork in a gesture of pure uninhibited expression! I was blown away and am now planning to expand this one-off workshop into a workshop series to be offered in Vancouver and Egypt throughout the next year.

There are some exciting things brewing and manifesting in my creative world. I am going to start sending out a bi-weekly newsletter of all of my offerings as well as creative insights and opportunities for artists. If you’re interested in staying in the loop, you can sign up for the newsletter at the link in my bio. I’ll be sending out an email soon with information on how you can apply for the Kasahara Gabriola Trust Artist Residency within beautiful Snuneymuxw territory of Gabriola Island.

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06/01/2022

Join me Saturday June 11th for a screening of my short film, Back Home, and a meet & greet at The Gabriola Arts and Heritage Centre.

I was blessed to create this film through The Empowered Filmmaker Masterclass Program supported by and and look forward to sharing it with you!

Inuit wallhanging by Elder Levinia Brown

05/25/2022

Join me this Saturday in conversation with Métis artist, Tracey-Mae Chambers as we discuss her Hope and Healing Canada installation project and how it illustrates connections between Métis, Inuit and First Nations Peoples.

Tracey-Mae is charismatic, funny, and humble and I look forward to introducing her to you and having the privilege to ask questions about her project, practice and more.

Get your tickets at artsgabriola.ca

05/24/2022

The ART of Communication: What Languages Do You Speak Workshop

Join Gabriola Arts Council Artist in Residence, Jessica ᒦᖒᐊᖅᑏ Miinguuaqtii and special guests, Celeste Johnson and Pablo Ochoa for a workshop exploring The Art of Communication. They will lead a discussion on how language shapes our perception and our perception shapes our reality through ...

05/24/2022

Looking forward to hosting this workshop with two other wonderful artists, Celeste Johnson of and Pablo Ochoa.

If you’re on Gabriola June 9th, join us as we transcend spoken language through visual art, music and dance! 🎨🎻💃🏼