NISHINA LOFT

Not Your Indian

2022

Medium: Photography

This photograph series examines the cultural stereotypes of Indigenous people. I focused on matriarchs of my community, Tyendinaga. It is a parody of the photography done by Edward S. Curtis, who photographed Indigenous people across the United States and would dress them up as his idea of the “indian”. It created inaccurate representations of communities and has carried throughout history. I wanted to show the contrast of the imagery that is the stereotypical image of the “indian” and the accurate, present representation of Indigenous people today. When I introduce myself as Indigenous, I am often told that I don’t look Indigenous. So I question it. What does an Indigenous person look like? It’s often this stereotype of braids, leather, feathers and being a person of the past. I wanted to create this series to challenge this stereotype and bring forward how we are people in the present and what we look like today.

ARTIST | Nishina Shapwaykeesic-Loft

She/They
Instagram: @nshtsh

Nishina Shapwaykeesic-Loft is a Kanien’kehá:ka woman from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. She is a queer, multi-disciplinary artist in a wide spectrum of mediums. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from York University in Theatre Production and Design.

She works within the theatre industry with a specialization in costuming. Her past works include the Costume Designer/Coordinator for The Way of The World, An Octaroon, Phyllis Wheatley Creation,The Marriage of Figaro, African Cargo and Olaudah Equiano Creation. She looks forward to working with the ADC for Designing the Revolution.

She is a mural artist working within the city as a member of the RUN Collective and the EarthSky Collective. She works with StART as a project coordinator and an indigenous advisor for multiple projects.

She is the Programming Coordinator for the Toronto Queer Film Festival. She is the Print Traffic Coordinator at imagineNATIVE Media + Arts Festival. She is the Indigenous Youth Artist-in-Residence at U of T Scarborough. She continues to grow within her field and explore new opportunities.

Email: nishinaloft@hotmail.com

ARTIST MENTOR | K'alii Luuyaltkw

He/Him
Instagram: @aquilvirani

Aquil Virani is an award-winning artist, graphic designer and filmmaker of Indian and French heritage based in Tkaronto. Awarded as the 2018 “Artist of the Year” by the Quebec-based artist collective “Artists for Peace,” his participatory work often blurs the line between art and activism. As curator Celine Le Merlus of the Stewart Hall Art Gallery explains, “his approach, which aims not simply to assert a personal point of view on a pressing social issue, but also to facilitate opportunities for others to express themselves freely – to speak and be heard – is characteristic of all of Aquil’s work.”

He was the Canadian Museum of Immigration’s first national artist-in-residence in 2022, unveiling the “Our immigrant stories” project that integrated the voices, photographs and text-based stories of over 100 participants across the country. Learn more at aquil.ca. “What a fantastic experience to work alongside Alex and learn more about his beautiful and important artwork. Alex’s paintings make important statements about Black lives with subtlety and wit; he uses a broad skillset to nourish his own curiosity and we are lucky to witness the results of his ongoing artistic journey.

Check out his work atartbyrobinson.com.