I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Bow Valley Artists for Ukraine fundraiser. My great-grandparents were Ukrainians. My great-grandfather, Anton Tyndyk (1890 - 1972), moved to Keppel, Saskatchewan from Knyazhyi Mist, Lvivska Oblast, Ukraine in 1911. Like many immigrants to Canada, he changed the spelling of his last name upon arrival. Barbara Mot (1896 - 1983), my great-grandmother, was born in Ukraine and married Anton Tendeck in Saskatchewan. I have never met my great-grandparents, though I often think about my heritage as I explore my identity through the land I reside and Canadian history in my work.
My grandmother Olga (Ollie) Mary Brown (nee Tendeck) October 19, 1919 - September 3, 2020 parents immigrated from the Ukraine to Saskatchewan in the early twentieth century. My grandma grew up in Guernsey, Saskatchewan and moved to Victoria, British Columbia with my grandfather in 1945.
I am thankful to contribute to this fundraiser that was established to support the people of the Ukraine through the Red Cross Ukraine Fund, these pieces are part of a silent auction including many original artworks by artists from Banff and Canmore. Bids are collected by commenting on the Facebook posts, and 100% of proceeds are donated directly through the Red Cross.
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Alpenglow vase, ceramics with quartz crystal, 19cm x 14cm.
I did not ask my grandmother much about her Ukrainian heritage during her lifetime, and I never visited Saskatchewan to see where she grew up. Though as I grow older, I find myself feeling loss of connection to my ancestors, their spiritual roots and their physical places and have the feeling that I missed the opportunity to know more. The war in Ukraine is a reminder of how small our human degree of separation is. It breaks my heart to know that so many are currently going through this traumatic experience.
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First Snow, ceramics, 17.5cm x 20cm.
I am thankful to my great-grandparents for moving to Canada. And, like my great-aunt Jaye, and my parents before me, I have found myself residing in Banff, Alberta. Using my work as my connection, I open my heart to new spaces and voices, striving to embrace a multiplicity of knowledge based on truths instead of misrepresentations. The work I create, hopes to recognize the land I reside and its history by depicting the strong, tall mountains with vast spaces for future possibilities above.
My grandmother on her 100th birthday, with my sister. They shared the same birthday and are both intelligent, beautiful women. I am grateful to have had this moment with them.
Like the tall mountains around me, my grandmother built a strong foundation for many possibilities for my family and I to share. May this contribution, and those of my Bow Valley artist peers, be sent to the families in the Ukraine to help end the war, rebuild, and create strong foundations for many futures to come.