Katherine Boyer is a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

artist, whose multidisciplinary practice focuses primarily on the mediums of

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

and

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary ...

. She was born and raised in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, but currently resides in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

—a location that has had a direct influence on her current artistic practice. As an artist of Métis ancestry, Boyer's personal connection to the traditional narratives and practices of her Indigenous culture are continually articulated within her work. The combination of these complex historical narratives coupled with an investigation of personal familial stories join together in shaping Boyer's research and artistic practice, as she explores themes of place and identity.

Early life and education

In 2010, Boyer received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

, and she proceeded to complete her MFA at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

in 2018. Over the course of her educational journey, Boyer also worked as the gallery and collections coordinator of the

First Nations University of Canada The First Nations University of Canada (abbreviated as FNUniv) is a post-secondary institution and federated college of the University of Regina, based in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. FNUniv operates three campuses within the province, ...

. While maintaining this position, Boyer organized several symposiums, and in 2015 she aided in the implementation of ''Performing Turtle Island: Fluid Identities and Community Continuities''—a national symposium focused on investigating the connection between Indigenous theatre and performance and Indigenous identity and community health.

Career

Dedicated to the investigation and contemplation of

visual culture, Boyer explores her concepts through various mediums. Her contemporary beading practice is rooted in the traditions of Indigenous culture and has also extended toward feminist contemplations of agency for Indigenous women in craft — a subject that was highlighted in the exhibition ''Material Girls'', Dunlops Art Gallery, which toured nationally across Canada in 2015, including venues such as Rodman Hall Art Centre at

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

, and Contemporary Calgary. For Boyer, the commitment she devotes to the labour-intensive process of beading is motivated by the connection it evokes with her familial memories; it is a practice of care and connection that has been shared among generations of women in her family. More recently, as a prolific beadworker, Boyer has also developed an extensive body of beadwork executed as "visualmaps". They are pieces that allude to stories of identity and place and can be "read as microcosms of an intersection of cultural and physical space". ''Water Meets Body'' is a solo exhibition, held at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW, or U of W) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers undergraduate programs in art, business, economics, education, science and applied health as well as graduate progra ...

Gallery 1C03 Gallery 1C03 is the University of Winnipeg campus art gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It opened in September 1986. The gallery has hosted more than 100 exhibitions and had over 125,000 visitors. Gallery 1C03 engages diverse communities thr ...

, which will run from February 28-April 6 (2019), and the installations it features are created with video, sculpture and textiles. Referencing the specific intersection of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, Boyer explores her personal relation to this geographic space.

Selected exhibitions

* ''Material Girls,'' Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina (2015) * ''Anishnaabensag Biimskowebshkigewag (Native Kids Ride Bikes)'', Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina (2016) * ''BeadSpeak'' at Slate Fine Art Gallery Regina (2016) * ''LandMarks 2017''/ Repères ''2017'', ''Place and Placelessness, Winnipeg'' (2017) * ''Out of Repetition, Difference'', Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto (2017) * ''Crafting the Future'', OCADU Canadian Craft Biennial (2017) * ''Li Salay'',

Art Gallery of Alberta The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies an building at Churchill Square (Edmonton), Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittor ...

, Edmonton (2018) * ''Labour is the Body; Time is the Bridge'', School of Art Gallery, Winnipeg (2018) * ''The Prairie Rose Won't Mourn Us'', Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto (2018) * ''Water Meets Body'', Gallery 1C03, Winnipeg (2019) * ''Radical Stitch'',

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

(2022).

References

Created via preloaddraft Canadian women artists {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Katherine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Métis artists Métis sculptors Sculptors from Manitoba Sculptors from Saskatchewan Artists from Regina, Saskatchewan Artists from Winnipeg University of Regina alumni University of Manitoba alumni Canadian Métis women First Nations beadworkers