Manuel Axel Strain

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Manuel Axel Strain is from the lands and waters of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred homelands of their q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) and qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) relatives. Strain’s parents are Tracey Strain (Simpcw and Syilx) and Eric Strain (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm). Strain’s grandparents are Marie Louis (Syilx) from a place called nk̓maplqs, Harold Eustache (Simpcw) from a place called Chu Chua,  Helen Point (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) and John Strain (Irish). Strain’s great grandparents are Rose Louis (Syilx), Ben Louis (Syilx), Christine Eustache (Simpcw), Manuel Eustache (Simpcw), Valentina Cortez/Cole (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), and Tony Point (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm). Strain’s great great grandparents are Emma Macdonald (Syilx), Frank Gottfriedson (Stó:lō), Pierre Louis (Syilx), Catherine Haynes, Helen(Ellen) Fortier (Simpcw), Eddy Fortier (Simpcw), Celena (Simpcw), Justin Phillip Súkwelst(Simpcw), Eliza A. John Peters (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) Pascual Cortez Labarca(Chilean), Martha Bailey (q̓ic̓əy̓), and James Point(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm). Although they attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, they prioritize Indigenous epistemologies through the embodied knowledge of their mother, father, siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents, and ancestors.

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Creating artwork in collaboration with and in reference to their relatives, their shared experiences become a source of agency that resonates through their work with performance, land, painting, sculpture, photography, video, sound and installation. Their artworks often envelop subjects in relation with ancestral and community ties, Indigeneity, labour, resource extraction, gender, Indigenous medicine and life forces. Strain often perceives their work as confronting and undermining the imposed realities of colonialism, proposing a new space beyond its oppressive systems of power. They have contributed work to the College Art Galleries at the University of Saskatchewan, Vancouver Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, UBC Okanagan Art Gallery and were longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Award as well as a recipient of the 2022 Portfolio Prize.

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Exhibitions

waking ground (2022)

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CV