Artist statement

My artwork reveals my journey to understand my heritage and my place within it. I looked to my family’s photo albums, hoping they would reveal clues about my identity, and I have made many bodies of work dealing with identity using photography as my privileged medium. Because Metis Indigenous identity is rooted in family, family albums are precious records. They are a resource in the search for my Metis roots.

Through my display of images from my family’s albums, I invite the viewer into my world where Indigenous peoples claim the right to exhibit their own culture and history.
 

Rosalie Favell is a distinguished Metis artist with a creative practice that spans over 40 years who has achieved national and international acclaim. Favell has used photography, portraiture, and painting to understand and represent her ancestry and identity in works that have been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. Drawing inspiration from her family history and Metis (Red River) heritage, she uses a variety of sources, from family albums to popular culture, to present a complex self-portrait of her experiences as a contemporary Indigenous woman. 

Rosalie explores cultural entanglements, the challenges of representation, and themes of empowerment and identity. Her work focuses on her lived experience as a Metis 2SLGBTQ woman, merging aspects of Metis identity, gender, heritage, and elements of popular culture. As someone who has influenced generations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artist, Rosalie is a leading figure in contemporary Indigenous art and photography.