Vanessa Dion Fletcher

Finding Language: A Word Scavenger Hunt (walking event)

Meeting Place: Circulation Desk, OISE Library, 252 Bloor St. W.

3-4:30 pm

Free and open to the public.

I've lost my words. Some of them are stuck in little boxes in my brain - drawers that won't open. Some of them are in the mouths of my Indigenous ancestors. Come with me while I search the OSIE library for these lost words and find some of your own along the way.

Vanessa Dion Fletcher employs porcupine quills, Wampum belts, and menstrual blood to reveal the complexities of what defines a body physically and culturally. She links these ideas to experiences with language, fluency, and understanding. All of these themes are brought together in the context of her Potawatomi and Lenape ancestry, and her learning disability. Her work is held in the Indigenous Art Center Collection in Gatineau, Quebec, and Seneca College. Dion Fletcher graduated from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago with an M.F.A. She is the recipient of the Textile Museum of Canada Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award.