By Whose Order And Direction

Jessie Ray Short

By Whose Order And Direction

Exhibition Run: May 4- July 13, 2024
Opening May 4, 12:30-4:30PM
Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre 10124 96 St Edmonton, AB

By Whose Order and Direction is a solo exhibition by Métis, Ukrainian and German artist and filmmaker Jessie Ray Short. Grounding the exhibition in the words of her grandfather Alcide Short, Jessie Ray echoes his sense of wonder at the human condition of existence in “the immensity of spaces” through the inclusion of film and installation-based works. The show features a collection of new and existing works that consider where we come from, how we come to be, and the reason for being, without answering these questions. Jessie Ray’s dream-like exhibition develops investigations into levels of consciousness, gender explorations and generational knowledge through the use of hand-me-downs and stories shared by family members as a point of connection to the seen and the unseen worlds around us. 

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Exhibition run: May 4 - July 13, 2024
Gallery Hours: 12pm-5pm, Wednesday to Saturday

Opening Reception: May 4, 12:30-4:30PM

Artist Talk: May 4, 1-2:30PM

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Edmonton Arts Council.

Jessie Ray Short and Ociciwan would also like to acknowledge Jennine Krauchi (Buffalo Hunter Outfit) and Sara McCreary (hanging bodice for the jacket) for their contributions. As well as a thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts for the financial support in the creation of new work for this exhibition. 

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jessie Ray Short’s practice involves uncovering connections between the nuanced history of Métis communities to which she is connected across the Prairies by exploring diverse topics including space and time, Indigenous and settler histories, Métis visual culture, personal narratives, spiritual and scientific belief systems, parallel universes, electricity, aliens and non-human being(s). They use various mediums in their practice, including film and video, performance art, installation, finger weaving, sewing and writing. Jessie Ray has shown work nationally and internationally, including at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, La Chambre Blanche in Québec City, Art Mûr Berlin (a satellite exhibition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial/BACA) in Germany, and at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival in New Zealand. Jessie Ray is deeply grateful to be based in oskana kâ-asastêki or Pile of Bones (also known as Regina) in Treaty 4 territory, which is between the Michif communities of Willow Bunch and Park Valley, where her ancestors lived. 

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EXHIBITION RESPONSE by Moss Short

A Desire to Know 

Inherently learnt, my muscles remember what my mind cannot. Lifetimes apart, the voices still ring through my head, echoing off of the chambers of my skull. Phantoms of the past continue to haunt, a new life, a different shape, the same taunts. 

Stories that some part of me has lived, linger in my blood even now. Though the proper order of words, no matter how carefully strung together, are lost throughout time. Former voices silenced, for freedom was worth much more. 

So it seemed back then, what now? 

The experience varies, though my skin recalls the feeling. “Not them.” An arm beckons me back, tugging at the sleeves, time enough to hide yet. I hear the bounding of feet on the pavement, my feet, yours, they seek shelter under a familiar shape. Our protector watches. 

The guardian lays its eyes upon us each time, it warns, a seemingly generous, but misguided reminder to trudge cautiously. Its grasp, its hold, grows tighter and tighter. Am I to give thanks for its offerings? Instead, as I look within me, I seem to find only a deficiency in the time I have to live, to exist, to be. 

What being grants me these opportunities? The lack thereof? 

Left hanging in a precarious balance, mouths were shut, hands were tied. The fault of some other, some being, and now, only the absence. All of the knowledge, our answers, spread out intentionally into an endless void. The space, the same one, it knows me now, it holds me down. Pinned to the ground, the earth I should be familiar with, and yet I writhe still in the confines of my own skin. 

Not woman, nor man, nor in the between. Not one, nor the other, no, some other thing. The space in which I exist does not exist itself. The absence I fill only grows larger as I walk through it, an infinite expanse. I know as much of this emptiness as it does of me. Willful ignorance aside, it becomes treacherous to open your eyes to such darkness, for it is able to seep past the eyelids. Manifesting itself as a sickly tar, sinking into the brain, filling the folds, engulfing the mind. 

Why me and not them? 

Will my fingers feel the sensation of a needle poking through fabric, carrying the beads around another bend? Will my feet understand the patience, the caution, the respect, while they stalk what provides for us all? Will my body accept the wisdom given by the stars that surround us? Will I recover all that we’ve lost? All I’ve missed? 

The linearity of existence is yet to prove itself. This space, the one we encompass, I find comfort in it still. The same as it did for you. I do not come to love the loneliness, for that is not what surrounds me. The absence is nothing but the presence of the unknown. How could I fear what I’ve yet to learn? Is it not merely knowledge I’ve yet to remember? 

Will time allot for itself?

I see you now. I see the peering eyes, looming over the heads that sit neatly lined up in front of each other. They all stare past, perhaps unto the unknown. Do you find the same solace as I? Are you privy to its immensity? Its intensity? Is it known to you as overbearing, overwhelming? 

I will search for the thread that connects us all. Scouring the depths of our memories, long since abandoned. With this string of consciousness I clutch onto, this will, this desire to believe, I will learn, I will teach, I will share. 

We will know.

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ABOUT THE WRITER

Moss Short is a Métis, agender, sci-fi and fantasy enthusiast, with a passion for art in all its forms. They enjoy questioning the why of all things, delving into the grotesque parts of the universe, and giving their cat Henderson all the love and attention he craves. With half a diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts, they spend their time at work baking and decorating intricate cakes. The time in between is dedicated to fictional languages, worldbuilding, and their loving friends and family.

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ACCESSIBILITY

Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre is barrier-free and is equipped with a lift to reach upper floors and lower floor gallery. Single stall and wide stall washrooms available on every floor. Children are welcome! Change tables available in select washrooms.

ETS stops at 96 Street and Jasper Avenue 1 minute walking distance (Routes 2, 5, 111, 131), 95 Street and Jasper Avenue 5 minutes walking distance (Routes 1), 100 Street and Jasper Avenue 10 minutes walking distance (Central Station, routes 8, 130X, 150X, 201). 

LRT Valley Line is a  1 minute walking distance (Quarters Station) 

Street parking:  96 Street, Rate: Free parking, Hours of Operation: 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday to Saturday; 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sundays

Street parking: 101A Avenue, Rate: $2.00 / HR Monday to Friday; $1.00 / HR Saturday and Sunday, Hours of Operation: 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday to Saturday; 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sundays

Paid impark lots available down 101A Ave