I Am YEG Arts: Heather Shillinglaw

Mixed media artist Heather Shillinglaw expresses her Indigeneity and familial oral histories through collages that employ sewing, painting, and sculpture methods. She grew up in Ministik near Cooking Lake and now lives in Edmonton and has a strong connection to the land and to her heritage; Nêhiyawêwin/​Cree, Dene/​Chipewyan, Salteaux/​Ojibwe, and Scots/​French. Over the course of her career, she has shared land-based teachings in art workshops with thousands of students of all ages, taken on activist work to highlight the importance of the natural world to inspire others to preserve what is left, and has exhibited her work extensively. In this week’s I Am YEG Arts feature, we get to know more about Heather Shillinglaw.

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and why you’ve decided to make it your home.

Growing up outside of Edmonton, we would come into town to do our shopping, and all that kind of stuff. And I always thought it was so fancy, and a fantastic place to live with all these great shops and beautiful river valley to pick berries or whatever. It maintained a consistent interest for me to live here and settle here. Now that I have my family, my husband and my two daughters, we call it home. And it’s not far from the place where I grew up, and my family. So, we’re kind of surrounded within Edmonton. I also have an ancestral connection to the land in that they harvested medicines, mostly berries here, which I’m very glad to say that saskatoons grow prevalently in our River Valley. 

What is your creative process like? And what motivates you as an artist?

I started out mostly as a mixed media artist, project based, so when I make art, I’m very material based. There’s kind of a relationship with the material that I start building a language within the work I’m creating. It’s either through symbolism, the materials, or the project base – the goal – which is talking about the environment, preservation of what’s left, to creation of the piece itself. Right now, I’m obsessed with sewing, and I’m sewing on hides and then I’m sewing on big florals. I collect and harvest like a mouse. That’s my animal spirit and I see things large and giant, and I’m very humbled by the land. 

In my pieces I’m using anywhere from three to six different types of sewing machines to create the work. When I’m sewing, I’m thinking about that kinship and relationship to the landscapes, like the maternal landscapes. It’s all nature based and it’s all about the healing plants and medicines that are in our land. 

How do you choose the materials you work with?

That’s a tricky one because I’m constantly collecting like a mouse. Another aspect in thinking about conservation of our land and not causing problems, I use a lot of recycled materials and mediums. In the body of work that I’m still creating, ᒫᒥᑐᓀᔨᐦᒋᑲᐣ ᑯᑖᐄᐧᐤ mâmitonêyihcikan kotâwîw, – my mind digs in the soil like a turtle – an exhibition that’s happening right now in Halifax at the Mary Black Gallery – I’m sewing on to hides and it’s kind of an eagle eye’s perspective. Through that I’m doing tufting, beading, and sewing into bodies of water that relate to the landscapes of where my ancestors hunted and harvested. Inspiration sources come from here, there and everywhere. So, you know, I’m a mouse that acts like a magpie. 

Where does your inspiration come from?

The inspiration comes from the land itself. For a lot of my projects, my inspiration source is my mother: through storytelling about the land, and her memories from our Nohkums, our grandmothers, and how they harvested from the land, right down to the specific berries, or the relationship that the moths share with the trees and how it provides a kinship relationship to the land itself. Then through that, I’m taking oral stories and I’m also looking at other forms of research, such as archival research. I’ve worked with ethnographer Ruth McConnell and I’ve been working with Elder and Knowledge Keeper Lynn Desjalais/​Lush from the Sandy Bay Reserve (she’s a relative of ours, I think that’s an added bonus). And Anne Cardinal, who’s from Saddle Lake Reserve. There’s a cultural connection, an artistic connection, a research base. So, there’s many different platforms in my resources and where I make my art from. 

Marilyn Dumont is another source of inspiration. Marilyn is a Métis poet, and we share common lineages in where our inspiration sources come from. I’ve been sewing her poetry into bodies of water, and I sew my own poetry now because she’s given me a lot of strength to do that. So that’s another aspect of my work – using poetry and prose to talk about what’s going on in the art. I’m so honoured that she said she’s willing to work with me and we continue to work together on projects. 

You’ve had the opportunity to exhibit your work nationally and internationally as well as participate in residencies abroad in Paraguay and Argentina. How was your artistic practice influenced by these cultural exchanges and how was your work received?

That was so much fun. 2009 was a bit of a banner year for me. Beatriz Ventura , who is the Canadian consulate located in Buenos Aires, for Argentina and Paraguay, connected with me and we talked about medicines, and she talked about her ancestors and how they hunted and harvested. Through that I sat on panel discussions, I exhibited my work, and then I did a little bit of a residency. I was quite excited and engaged by what was happening with the Indigenous people out there and how it was almost like going back 200 years for their discovery of the oil rights in the land. I gave some advice, from my ancestors and their trauma and problems that we’ve had in the past. I got invited to go around with an anthropologist in Mendoza and she took me up into the mountains, and we met the Indigenous tribes there. It was a phenomenal experience. 

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to talk about plant sustainability, which is in my practice today. Then I got invited by a conference attendee from Paraguay, Asunción to stay in her home. I got a chance to meet all these wonderful people there, networked with them, created workshops for the conference that I attended, gave a panel discussion presentation of my work, and then I also got a chance to work with the UNICEF school out there as well. I kind of became a little bit of a political activist. I’m not in your face in my politics; there are political statements within the art itself. And the more I create my work, the more I’m concerned about the land and preservation, because our oil and gas industry is affecting our water tables, it’s in our system and there’s some relationships of what Industry Canada is doing to our land that is very disconcerting. As an artist, your job and your role is to make sure you carry your message through your art, so that’s where art becomes an activist statement. And I don’t want to be in your face. I want people to want to understand. And that’s where you can access more of a deeper, profound way of understanding the art, understanding culture, and understanding our planet and preservation.

What would you say is your greatest strength as a creative?

I have taught many artists and residencies over the years, and I worked at the Art Gallery of St Albert as their first Indigenous Visual Arts Programmer; I take pride in that. Whenever I’m teaching, I take it upon myself to inspire people. That’s important and supports my practice. That’s another hat that I wear as an artist. Through my Elders, I’ve learned that a big part of our culture is sharing, and you share with humility. Like, the information that was given to me, you hand it down for the next generation to inspire them. And they’re probably not going to make the same work that you’re going to make; the goal is to inspire, and that’s why I teach. 

Tell us a little bit about what you’re currently working on or hoping to explore next.

At the Centre of Contemporary Craft of Nova Scotia there is an exhibition of my work right now, it closes on July 2^nd. I will be going to see the exhibit and attend a series of things going on out there. It’s a body of work called ᒫᒥᑐᓀᔨᐦᒋᑲᐣ ᑯᑖᐄᐧᐤ mâmitonêyihcikan kotâwîw, – my mind digs in the soil like a turtle, and it’s basically large landscapes and a body of work that showed here last year at the Alberta Craft Council. It does come back here in the fall, in September and October at the Art Gallery of St Albert. We’re going to be doing some exciting activities, workshops and talks. 

In January, I have an exhibition at the McMullen gallery. I’m going to be doing some workshops and artist talks and events. And as a sneak peek, for Gaagige Giizhig — Ishpeming (Forever Sky) (the Sky Above) I’m going to be turning the gallery to space! Those are works are on black panels, and there’s thirteen of them, and they’re not small either – some of those panels are larger than me, so maybe like 8’ x 5’ ft. MSHKAWJI GIIZIS (FREEZING MOON) – OCTOBER for example, is one of them, it’s the frost moon, so they’re really different. 

And then I have another body of work, it’s called Whispers in the Forest, and it’s going to the Esplanade Gallery [in Medicine Hat]. It’s part of a larger group exhibition. In 2026, I have a solo exhibition at the same gallery and I’m just working through that. I’m going to be focusing on learning ancestral languages from language keepers: Saulteaux Denesuline language, Anishinaabe language, and Nêhiyawêwin Cree. It’s going to be a massive mouse trap, a life-size mouse trap that focuses on live, eat, sleep, repeat. 

Tell us about a local artist group or organization that is doing great work in the community that you think more people should know about.

I would start off by saying CARFAC Alberta is fantastic and great to work with because they do a lot of programming to help artists survive as artists. There’s a lot of versatility in the art world, but it’s challenging to survive as an artist. They do all kinds of workshops to help people, anywhere from writing grants, to what’s next, or how to ship your art internationally and that sort of thing. So, there’s lots of opportunities for artists to learn from them. 

And then I would say the Art Gallery of Alberta is fantastic. I’ve shown my work there, I sell my work at the art rental sales, and I’ve had opportunities to work with them and be a special guest artist, teaching workshops for them that a benefactor had paid for. There are phenomenal opportunities for artists to connect with them. Outside of that, there is the Art Gallery of St Albert. Emily Baker and Leah Louden are fantastic. They also sell my work out there, and they do amazing programming that is so unique. You can go in by donation and still access a lot of the arts just in that space itself. So those are some really good places that do so much in the community. 

The Rowles and Company Gallery also sells my work. I’m saying support our local galleries because you know, they really struggled to get through COVID, so it’s really important to share that message with others. 

And I didn’t even mention the Edmonton Arts Council, that they offer so much programming, so many grants and possibilities for artists themselves. I’ve been honored to be a recipient of those grants and organizations for money to create my works. 

I am also so thankful that I have been inspired by Shirley Norris Shillinglaw, who’s my mother, and my family that supports me. Keith Macmillan and my daughters tolerate bits of thread and my messy nature. They’ve been very generous to allow me to do that. 

About Heather Shillinglaw

Heather Shillinglaw is a project-based artist adapting art materials using sewing, painting and sculpture methods. Growing up in Ministik near Cooking Lake, she now lives in Edmonton, Alberta. Shillinglaw is proud of her heritage; Nêhiyawêwin /​Cree, Dene/​Chipewyan, Salteaux/​Ojibwe, and Scots/​French. Shillinglaw shares land-based teachings in art workshops to thousands of students of all ages, throughout her career. She becomes an activist, her voice in sharing through art she hopes to inspire the importance of the natural world to inspire preserving what is left. Exhibiting her work nationally and internationally, she is humble in acknowledging the awards and Grants that help her projects, inclusive of a recent award Leighton Studio stay at the Banff Center for the Arts; the Gerin-Lajoie Studio. Previous exchanges abroad in Paraguay and Argentina working with anthropologists, medicine women of Tobian- Guarani and Mapuche healers in South America, and other shows/​cultural connections abroad. You can learn more about Heather here.