Liv Aanrud earned her B.F.A in painting from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire in 2001 and an M.F.A from Rutgers University, in 2011. She as taught at ARTworks Charter School, at Santa Barbara City College, and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena.

Aanrud’s work has been the subject of one person exhibitions at New Image Art, Arvia, 1700 Naud and TSA-LA in Los Angeles. She has also had solo shows at Finlandia University in Hancock MI, Sierra Nevada College, Lake Tahoe, Pamela Salisbury Gallery, and John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY, Oasis Gallery, Marquette, MI and Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects, New York City. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions across the U.S., Taiwan, Germany, and Spain. Liv has an upcoming solo exhibition in Lillehammer, Norway and a two person show at Leftfield SLO in San Louis Obispo. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Time becomes tactile, ticked up in a stitch; this rhythm is a reverie where my mind can find rest through work. A scrap of fabric becomes a line--one that is held, cut, and pulled through a grid of burlap.  I find myself thinking about painting as I weave this slowly stitched drawing.  My fabric paintings are an earnest attempt to slow time, to hold fast in a world that seems built to commodify and consume. Their gradual realization is necessary retreat, a coping mechanism in a world that simply cannot be kept up with.

Michael Laughing Fox Charette is a gifted Native American storyteller, poet, and member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (located in Northern Wisconsin). As a self-taught Native flute player, he enhances his stories with hauntingly beautiful flute and drum performance. Growing up surrounded by the beauty of Lake Superior and the woods led him to dedicate his gifts as an artist to gently teaching about Native history, culture, and spirituality. His work as both a visual and performance artist is varied and tied together by the traditional wisdom of the Anishnaabe people, which is respectfully incorporated into his work. Michael captivates audiences with his authentic, relaxed style.

Please join us for this dedication and celebration on Wednesday, November 30 from 12-1pm.

In fear of being removed from their ancestral lands to Kansas and Oklahoma, the Anishinaabeg of what was to become Upper and Lower Michigan, ceded almost 16 million acres of land to the United States government in the Treaty of 1836. Language within this document promised “the Indians and their deemed eligible half-breed descendants” reserved hunting/fishing rights, education, money, goods, and services considered appropriate and necessary by the president. The ceded territory boundaries are approximately the Eastern Upper Peninsula up to the Escanaba River and two-thirds of the northern lower peninsula down to Thunder Bay River (on the east side) and the Grand River (on the west side) with a boundary line drawn between the two rivers. Within these ceded territories generations of communal lands, ceremonial sites, and buried ancestors were left behind for minimal monetary compensation and provisions such as bags of salt, barrels of dried fish, a couple blacksmiths, farmers, equipment, and church missions. With the signing of the treaty the land, water, and my ancestors’ migratory life in harmony with the seasons and its gifts were irrevocably changed forever. “Noojimo’iwewin” is the word for healing in our language. This triptych was painted and named in recognition of historic and contemporary effects to Anishinaabeg way of life and culture caused by the treaty. It is a story of forgiveness, generational healing, and reclamation of heritage. It portrays Anishinaabe belief that all things are connected and reliant upon one another for their continued health and prosperity. We have a prophecy that warned of the many changes that were to come to the land and our people. Much has been damaged and lost, but through loss we gained strength and perseverance. The will to survive. Another prophecy speaks of choice. Modern academia teaches that mankind is at the top of the hierarchy in the food chain, but Anishinaabe believe that we are at the bottom and rely on all other beings for the gifts they give, this includes soil, air, water, and fire. Through the act of reciprocation, we nourish the four parts of our own being (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) as well as the continued health of our environment. Forthcoming survival and prosperity are dependent on our responsibility to respect and protect the other beings we share life with. By painting “Noojimo’iwewin”, I seek to honor this obligation by educating and inspiring generations of stewards, both present and future.

Boozhoo! I am an Anishinaabe mixed media artist from Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.  Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has inspired creativity and wonder in me for as long as I can remember. I never tire of each magical encounter Lake Superior shares with me or fail to find quiet solitude and unspoken inspiration with the land that surrounds me.  It is my home and has been a place of incredible growth and healing. In this space, through the act of painting, I contemplate cultural/personal identity, generational trauma, environmental awareness, and colonial ideologies that continue to shape the world I live in. Creation is my way of honoring and expressing these relationships, of acknowledging and holding indigenous values that have been lost and revived. I seek to reconnect with daily rituals, traditions, and teachings that are inherent parts of who I am as well as the uncomfortable and clarifying moments of evolution I make while on this journey. Balancing physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual parts of my being within this context is a story of continual reconciliation and transformation. Each painting chronicles the celebration and expression of gratitude for the gifts, lessons, and beings shared through this cycle of life as well as the roles I live with the passing of the seasons.