Quick Pick - Mia Ohki at Art Gallery of St. Albert

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Mia Ohki, “Redefine,” 2018

acrylic on canvas (courtesy of Art Gallery of St. Albert)

Mia Ohki explores her Japanese and Métis ancestry in her show, I Know What It Looks Like, on now through Nov. 2 at the Art Gallery of St. Albert.

She will lead a workshop at the gallery on Sept. 28.

The show is small but what it lacks is size it makes up for in power, as Ohki gently explores parallels between the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the generational trauma of residential schools. 

Even the colour palette has been intentionally chosen, according to the news release. “Choosing a limited colour palette of red and yellow ochre, orange, black and white, was an act of acknowledgement and reclamation,” it reads.

“In the past, these colours were used to discriminate, to define individuals by their skin, and to create fear based around an incorrect perception. I hope to give these colours new meaning,” Ohki says.

And along the way, she hopes the show will help bring healing to viewers, too. “The traumas of the past are present in all of us,” reads the gallery statement. “Mia feels that it is our collective responsibility to care for those wounds, to extend care and patience as we all work towards healing.”  

Born in Connecticut, USA, Ohki grew up in Alberta and now lives and works between Edmonton, Alta. and Langley, British Columbia. Her work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Alberta and other group and solo exhibitions across North America. She has also illustrated several books. ■

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