Artist Taylor Baptiste with her piece, How Turtle Set the Animal People Free.
Who: Taylor Baptiste exhibition q̓ayisxn—Off the Rocks exhibition
What: Artist talk and opening reception
Where: FINA Gallery, Creative and Critical Studies Building, UBC Okanagan, 1148 Research Rd., Kelowna
When: Artist talk, Friday, January 10 at 4 pm; opening reception begins at 5 pm
Exhibition Dates: January 9–22, weekdays from 10 am–4 pm
UBC Okanagan Gallery hosts the contemporary sculptures of emerging Syilx artist Taylor Baptiste as her work q̓ayisxn—Off the Rocks is installed on campus.
This exhibition, Baptiste’s second in the Okanagan, features two large contemporary sculptures: How Turtle Set the Animal People Free and Flight of Union.
Her work combines the traditional practice of pictograph making with contemporary sculpture to bring the cultural teachings of her ancestors off the rock and into three-dimensional space,” says Okanagan Gallery Curator Dr. Stacey Koosel.
These larger-than-life installations, like much of Baptiste’s artistic practice, draw from the surrounding landscape, cultures and materials and use a red ochre pigment to honour the sites and stories of her ancestors, explains Dr. Koosel, who along with Curatorial Assistant Ryan Trafananko curated the exhibition.
“Taylor Baptiste is a talented, exciting young artist,” says Dr. Koosel. “We are so honoured to be the first to show her artwork in Kelowna.”
Baptiste is an interdisciplinary artist from the Osoyoos Indian Band of the Okanagan Nation. She draws upon her upbringing in Nk’mip—a field of sagebrush and wild roses nestled between the mountains and Osoyoos Lake on the Osoyoos Indian Band reserve.
Her art practice, rooted in her family, community and ancestral history, incorporates elements of Syilx storytelling and epistemologies and reflects a connection to the land and waters of the Okanagan, explains Dr. Koosel.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design last spring and was an Artist in Residence and speaker at UBCO’s 2024 Indigenous Art Intensive program, an initiative in collaboration with UBC Okanagan Gallery.
Baptiste’s exhibition q̓ayisxn—Off the Rocks is open for viewing from January 9 to 22 at UBC Okanagan’s FINA Gallery located in the Creative and Critical Studies Building. The gallery is open weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm.
On Friday, January 10 at 4 pm Baptiste will host an artist talk that will be followed by an opening reception for the exhibition. These events are free and open to all. The exhibition was made possible by a grant from the British Columbia Arts Council.
For more information about the UBCO Gallery, visit gallery.ok.ubc.ca.
