Aidainnaqduanni

By creating complex narratives around the tension between land as home and land as a finite industrial resource, the Aidainnaqduanni (Inuvialuktun for ”We're finally home”) three old, worn polar bear traps that I brought back to the Arctic after receiving them as a gift from a museum in the south of the country. They have been placed alongside industrial tripods found among the waste left behind by oil companies in Tuktoyaktuk.

During a week-long installation, as the sea froze, sea ice gradually accumulated around the base of these joined objects. The growth of the ice slowly changed the bears' positions so that their gaze was gradually directed up towards the stars.

An accompanying video creates a counterpoint to the installation's still images by sharing the artist's perspective as she walks across the newly formed ice along the shoreline; each step bursting with crystal clarity through the still Arctic air.