Background

Christi Belcourt is a visual artist born in Scarborough, Ontario. Their families ancestral roots originate from the Metis community of Manitou Sakhigan, Alberta. Her family is full of creative individuals, with her brother finding success as a writer and filmmaker and her sister being an emerging graphic designer.

Themes In Her Work

Christi expresses that she has a deep respect for Mother Earth and the traditions and knowledge of her people. Her work celebrates and expresses the beauties found in the natural world and indigenous traditions regarding spirituality, medicines and symbolism. She often uses her subject matter as a metaphor to portray topics of the environment, spirituality, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights. Christi’s medium of choice is usually paint, but she also created her pieces using beads, copper, clay, wool, cloths, bark and other materials.

Notable Works

In 2011, a piece called Giniigaanii, meaning Looking Forward, was created to commemorate the resilience and strength of Residential School Survivors and their descendants. It was selected and installed as stained glass for a permanent exhibit above the main entrance for Members of Parliament, in Centre Block, Parliament Hill (Ottawa). She also designed the PanAm / ParaPan Medals for the Toronto 2015 Games. And most recently, she has been in the news for her collaboration with Italian fashion designer The House of Valentino.

Achievements 

Christi Belcourt’s father is an indigenous rights leader, which may have motivated Christi to support her fellow indigenous community and teach people about her people’s traditions and knowledge. She often brings awareness to current indigenous issues by depicting these topics in her artwork. In 2012 she began the Walking With Our Sisters project to honour the lives of murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada and the United States. Christi also co-created and co-led the Willisville Mountain Project, a juried exhibit involving 40 artists who used art to draw attention to the Willisville Mountain that was slated for quarry. She is the author of three books: Medicines To Help Us (2008), Beadwork (2011), and co-author of Jeremy and the Magic Ball (2008), 

One style I often see in her work is her use of very bright vibrant colours on dark backgrounds. Because I have always really loved floral art, when researching artist I was instantly drawn to her artwork.