Participating artists of the Ullus collective include Mariel Belanger, Tracey Kim Bonneau, Chris Bose, Bracken Hanuse Corlett and Warren Hooley. Senior artist, Cease Wyss, participates as a guest artist and mentor. Indigenous/Traditional Ecological Knowledge Keeper of the Syilx Nation, Richard Armstrong, also shares his knowledge and expertise. The Picto Prophecy Project  is curated by independent visual artist Jennifer Pickering in collaboration with Ullus Chair Tracey Kim Bonneau.

 

The Ullus is an Indigenous collective based in Penticton that brings together artists to share knowledge, build skills and develop innovative projects. The collective gratefully acknowledges project support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the En'owkin Centre. 

 

About the Artists:

 

Mariel Belanger was raised as a member on the Okanagan Indian Reserve and is Okanagan and French Canadian decent. She is a writer, performer, model and an emerging filmmaker and photographer. Mariel graduated from Media and Communications General Arts and Sciences in Ottawa, completed her first year Social Work from NVIT, graduated from the National Aboriginal Professional Artist Training program at Enowkin and trained as a professional actor in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. As a member of the Ullus collective since 2004, Mariel has directed award winning short films such as Wayward Soul and Mothers Milk. Other films include Coyote Tales (Dreamspeakers Film Festival) and I still hear my granny speak (imagineNATIVE and On Common Ground).

 

Tracey Kim Bonneau is a member of the Syilx Nation born and raised on the Penticton Indian reserve in British Columbia. She is the Chair of the Ullus Collective and the coordinator for the National Aboriginal Professional Artist Program at the En'owkin Centre in Penticton. Bonneau is an award winning broadcast journalist, director, writer, producer and storyteller who has been producing stories both independently and with the CHBC for 18 years. In 2008, her documentary, Magic on the Water, was awarded First Place for Best Television Feature. In 2009, this film was screened at the American Indian Film Institute and received a nomination for Best Documentary Short, as well as winning the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Gold Ribbon Award in Quebec.

 

Chris Bose is from the Nlaka'pamux nation, which means "people of the canyon", referring to the B.C. region where the Fraser and Thompson Rivers join. Through his  photography, film, digital storytelling, poetry and music, Chris wrestles with the traumatic intergenerational effects of residential school. Chris' work blends popular culture and archival footage with a heavy metal aesthetic. In 2009, Chris launched Urban Coyote TeeVee, a blog featuring his digital art, film and commentary. Jesus Coyote TeeVee, a video short, which developped out of this project, was shown at the Toronto ImagiNative Film and Media Arts Festival in 2011. Chris' most recent book of poetry, Stone the Crow, was published by Kegedonce Press in 2010. 

 

Bracken Hanuse Corlett is a Northwest Coast based multimedia artist and a member of the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. His talents include video, sound, painting, carving/sculpture, writing and performance. His work deals with themes of cultural reclamation and survival, identity politics, hybridity, and decolonization. Much of his work is relevant to his Northwest Coast Indigenous roots and explores the stories, language, songs and art of his people. He is also inspired by art movements of agit-pop, manga and dada. A graduate of the En’owkin Centre for Indigenous Art, his work was featured in 2008 by the Three Walls Gallery (Chicago IL) and Grunt Gallery's Beat Nation exhibited by Saw Gallery (Ottawa) in 2009. He has worked as a newswritter for Redwire Magazine, as production manager and co-programmer at the Indigenous Media Arts Group, and is currently co-founder and co-programmer for the newly formed Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival. 

 

Emerging artist, Warren Hooley, is from the Syilx (Okanagan) Nation and a member of the Penticton Indian Band. Warren is a graduate of the National Aboriginal Professional Artist Training program (2011). His talents include graphic design, film, visual arts and music. He is best known for his music, which he describes as progressive lyrical hip hop. Recent projects include Abrupt and Kid Kong, a musical collaboration with his 11 year old cousin Austin George. Warren's work, which includes workshops and public speaking, focuses on the youth, who he feels most respond to his style of hip hop.

 

Senior artist Cease Wyss is from the (T’Uy’Tanat) of the Skwxw’u7mesh Nation. Cease is an ethnobotanist, media artist, educator and activist. The focus of her arts practice is in community, health and healing practices. Through her work with foods and medicines she continues her journey of understanding the relationship between arts and culture and how it relates to community holistic health. Cease works collaboratively through writing, producing, directing and mentoring communities and individuals. Her short films, installations and performances includes the Talking Poles (2008) for the Surrey public art collection and Soul Gardens (2011) with W2 community Media Arts. Cease was a recipient of the 2010 Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Awards for Studio Arts for Film & New Media.

 

The Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Audain Foundation, the BC Arts Council, the City of Kelowna, the Ullus Collective, the En'owkin Centre, our members and volunteers.