Zulis Yalte

Zulis Yalte is an artist who lives on Gabriola Island. She describes her recent installation: "Border Crossings" below.

Her email is zulis@shaw.ca

Her work was included in the "Artists of Conscience" exhibition in Victoria in 2006.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/arts/story.html?id=b6ee30c9-e2fa-4a43-80be-201d690ddd01

Artist's Statement: Border Crossings: A Conceptual Sculptural Installation

Acknowledgments

Dedicated to

Border Crossings

This installation arose from the exploration of self/identity in relation to concepts of community, power and social change in my first year of graduate school. Being a twin spirited person; or as society names, a lesbian, by birth, not political choice, I have walked a path that recognizes marginalization. Coming from a poor family in a community where I experienced multilevel abuse, there was further marginalization. New dimensions of marginalization are revealed, as I become an aging woman with a limiting health condition.

Since my earliest memory, I have been gifted with sensitivities that allow me to know my teachers and supporters of the invisible world. Throughout the years, deep healing has ensued in collaboration with my guidance. As a result I have developed healing skills that allow me to assist others who have experienced physical and emotional trauma. This has brought me to the academy to ‘credential’ the work I do, an integration of counselling, energy and shamanic work. In the course of my learning, and with reflection upon what community and power is, I have explored the multidimensional aspects of being, and have experience of community and power that moves beyond the linear, logical world of the academic community.

The figures of the installation and what is written on and in the bodies, depicts some of that reflection, as well as the very real ‘coming up’ against the institution, as a result of the disabling health experience due to the occupational exposure to mould and mould toxins. In my journey through my body’s response to the mould/ toxins and my Kafkaesque experiences with the employer- Health Canada, WCB, Labor Canada and the medical profession, I have a new understanding of how our society is constructed. This understanding alarms me as we experience the neo-liberal cutbacks that attack the most vulnerable in our society. In my experience with the institution, as someone who has some strength and skills to navigate the system, and having met wall after wall, I cannot but be alarmed for those more vulnerable. I feel alarm also at the BC government and medical profession denial of a very real problem…. that of environmental toxins and the profound negative health impact they have.

Yet there is hope. Community for me constitutes all of the visible, and invisible world, all of creation. I have tried to depict this interconnectedness through illuminating the figures. Community is represented by the oppressor, oppressed or marginalized, the shamanic person who transcends the dichotomy of the paradox, the stone people, the living earth and waters, the tree people and the heron to symbolize all beings. Within each figure the dark and the light is depicted. The installation is an exploration of all of this, of the crossing of borders between self/other, other/other, oppressor/oppressed, male/female, white/color, separate/united, visible/invisible, conscious/unconscious, this reality/non-ordinary reality, wanting to live/wanting to die and all of the paradox that makes the whole, that is out there and within all at the same time, for each one of us. If we are willing to take responsibility for being conscious, for owning the dark and light that we are, we can make choices from a place of power within, as opposed to power over. We are a reflection of each other, not separate but connected all of the time. When we honor this, are conscious of this and make choices out of this consciousness, we can effect positive change that will assist in bringing our world, inner and outer, to balance.

Zulis Yalte Written: May 2004

This work, the writing on the bodies continues to be in process. Please honour this process by noting that images and writing are copyright Zulis Yalte and may not be reproduced without permission of the artist. Thank you.

Symbolism of figures

Border Crossings

Refers to that threshold of opportunity at the intersection of our multidimensionality to become more conscious, free flowing, flexible beings who can make conscious inclusive choices that enhance our individual and collective humanity.

Oppressor

The oppressor/oppressed dynamic portrayed in opposition to each other to depict the dualistic western orientation to being. Here the oppressor takes the form of the corporate white male with brogue shoes. The figure towers above the marginalized woman and holds a dominant posture. The inscriptions on and in his body reveal his underlying, unconscious pain and allude to how the seemingly powerful are often the weakest in society. The pain is hidden as domination/control is used to counterbalance the fear. They reveal the oppressor in each one of us, that part of us that judges, denigrates, undermines self or hides from our fear and vulnerability. The hidden is the unconscious, the shadow that each of us carries but is perhaps larger in those who dominate others. This is illustrated in the figures by the areas of opacity (energy blocks/unconsciousness) and light/illumination (energy flow/consciousness)

Oppressor/Oppressed Dyad

The oppressor/oppressed dyad symbolizes the external/internal dynamic in all of us – the conflict, the parts of us that come up against each other in seeming opposition: weaker/stronger, smarter/dumber, wanting to continue/give up and healthier/sicker. It is the dualistic thinking that splits us as individuals and as a society. We learn about ourselves by what we act out with others if we choose to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings, behaviors and actions. In this way everyone/thing is a mirror of the other with areas of opacity and density, changing all of the time. This is changing all of the time because we are multi-dimensional beings, existing at once on many different levels. There is always movement with the potential of clearing blocks and becoming more translucent as energy/light/consciousness flows more freely through us.

Oppressed/marginalized

The oppressed/marginalized person, depicted as a pregnant, disabled, woman of color, is one of our community’s most vulnerable. I have worked in First Nation communities and witnessed the systemic racist and oppressive practices of the dominant culture with the resultant deleterious individual and community impact. As a result, I conceptualized the marginalized figure as aboriginal during her construction. The inscriptions on/in her body detail the vulnerability of the marginalized to illness due to high stress levels resulting from poverty, racism, and various forms of trauma. There is an added vulnerability due to neo liberal polices that result in human services cuts and decreased maintenance and repair of public buildings like school, hospitals and public housing. The higher stress level depletes the immune system making the already vulnerable, more vulnerable to illness from mould/toxins (any toxins) in neglected housing/buildings. The aboriginal peoples have been particularly affected as a result of neo liberal policy. She is vulnerable for all of these reasons but also strong in the face of the domination of the oppressor as revealed by her posture and expression that speaks determination in the face of adversity. The oppressed/marginalized figure symbolizes that part of self that can go to helpless, victim positions on one hand and in vulnerability be clear, make choices and take action despite oppressive circumstance.

The Shaman

• One who experiences a death(s) and rebirth, returning transformed by the experience, with new knowledge that is brought back and shared with the community. The Shaman, the ‘Wounded Healer’.

• Depicted with genitals of two genders symbolizing: a twin spirited person, balanced masculine/feminine energies and conscious body memories in this materiality as a woman, of a memory of experiencing/being a man. The shaman is one who knows both worlds … of gender, but also of the mystery- the ordinary and non-ordinary reality, the visible and invisible, who stands balanced with one foot in each world.

• Such beings, people, trees, water, stones act as a grounding rod for others and a conduit of healing. In this installation, the Shaman holds the energy for the conflicted dynamic of the oppressor/oppressed. Internally, this figure symbolizes the sacred inner witness who stands by while we work our process.

Light and shadow

At once - revealed by the illumination/energy/life force that flows through us emphasizing the area of density/opacity/unconscious or slow/blocked flows of light and the areas of greater transparency/luminosity/conscious and free flow. All is alive – earth, water, the air and all beings in all realms. All are One and each part of the interconnected web of life.

The Great Blue Heron

The fisher bird, dipping into the waters of the unconscious and transporting the fish/food/ kernels of information, to the surface/consciousness.

The abalone and plant medicines symbolize the intentional and conscious relationship with those who accompany us in the invisible world. The rattle also symbolizes this and the honoring of the sacredness of life.

The head open reveals inscriptions of the neurological/systemic effects of mould toxins. Another power dynamic as the toxins aim to disable the host and the host struggles to be able.