Welcome to the Third Space Gallery Podcast, I am your host Abigail Smith. Today’s episode, Rural Art Making with Cheryl Johnson. I loved this conversation with taxidermist and entrepreneur Cheryl Johnson about her relationship with her rural surroundings and how they relate to her art practice and business. I did end up going hunting with her last winter after we recorded this interview and while I didn’t snag us a meal I did have a lot of fun in the Woods, so thank you Cheryl both for this interview and that experience.
The Third Space Gallery Podcast is produced by me, Abigail Smith through Third Space Gallery, with huge support from Local 107.3fm. Third Space Gallery and Local 107.3fm operate on the traditional, unsurrendered territories of the Wolastoqey, Mi’gmaq, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. The City of Saint John sits at the mouth of the Wolastoq, the beautiful and bountiful river, where Indigenous Peoples have lived, travelled, traded, celebrated, and made music for thousands of years. Thank you for recognizing and respecting the custodians of the lands and waters upon which we now collectively live, create, and reflect. At recording time of this podcast, the Government of New Brunswick recently announced to all government employees that they are to cease using land acknowledgements in their correspondence, events, and documents. I would like to quote from the letter released by the six Chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick;
“Rather than acknowledge the historical truth of lands within New Brunswick, GNB is issuing a gag order against its employees to stop them from speaking the truth as well. It is obvious to any rational thinkers that this prohibition is disrespectful to First Nations people. But beyond the obvious, the memo is clearly a scare tactic and speaks to an underbelly of censorship that is now on full display at GNB.”
As per the recommendation of this letter by the six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick, I will repeat that the land on which we operate and the land discussed in the rest of this episode is the unsurrendered and traditional territories of the Wolastoqey, Mi’gmaq, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples.
APTN Article that includes the six chiefs letter.
Cheryl Johnson is an artist and teacher in rural New Brunswick. They work with found objects and natural materials from the backwoods to create unique pieces through various methods of preservation, including taxidermy. Her work is dependent on what nature provides and varies according to the seasons: It is structural, whimsical, and sometimes scary. She can be found online at deadstuff.ca.
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