I’m a stone carver who began carving in 2002. My carvings have always reflected Indigenous themes—I've never quite understood why. I was adopted as a baby by wonderful parents. Later in life, I became curious about my heritage and embarked on a journey to find my birth mother.

Five years into my sculpturing work, I discovered and met my birth mother Janice, and my sister Onowa. It was then that I learned about my Cree ancestry. Janice shared a journal that belonged to my great-great-grandfather, a Scottish fur trader living in Churchill, who met and married a woman from a Cree village.

When I sculpt, I find inspiration in the raw stone itself, which already possesses its own unique shape, colours, and veins. My goal is to transform that stone into something beautiful and interesting. Each sculpture I create is an adventure where I may change my plans if a piece breaks off or if I uncover a feature of the stone that I have never seen before. Continuing the traditional Inuit methods of stone carving is very important to me. I use only hand saws, chisels, files, and sandpaper.

Although it takes longer to complete a piece, I become very attached to it because I spend so many hours working on it. I typically carve outside beside a forest and a nearby creek. This natural setting fuels my creativity and keeps me carving for many hours at a stretch. The swaying trees and visiting birds, squirrels, and deer help me easily “zone out” and achieve that tunnel vision where it’s just me and the stone itself.