“Landfear”
Solo Exhibition by Vi Houssin
Curated by Julia Lafreniere
OPENING DATE : NOVEMBER 7 2025
EXHIBITION RUN: NOVEMBER 7 – DECEMBER 19
Humans are not separate from, but are one with the land, the water, and the sky. Humans are not at the top of a hierarchy; animals are our relatives, our similarities being more than our differences.
Landfear is a rejection of a common teaching to only bead when you are feeling happy, patient, and well. In this body of beadwork, Vi Houssin explores uncomfortable and uncertain human emotion.
Landfear interrogates the relationship between self and land.
Can you love the land and loathe yourself? Can you harm the earth without hurting yourself? Can you harm yourself without hurting the earth?
Landfear is a merging of body and land to convey the idea that humans are inextricably molded by our environments. These ideas are frightening, ominous, and potentially disgusting; they are an expression of fear, inherent connection, and comfort with the unknown.
Artist statement:
Vi Houssin’s work explores the conventions of beadwork as an artistic medium, and as an expression of her Indigeneity. She uses both traditional Métis stitch methods as well as off-loom beadweaving in her work to honour her Michif heritage and contribute to the proud craft of her ancestors. She seeks to continue the legacy of contemporary Indigenous artists who affirm that Indigenous craft is art, not artefact, and challenge the fiction that Métis art and culture are sedentary.
About aceartinc.: We are an artist-run centre dedicated to the support, exhibition, and dissemination of contemporary art. aceartinc. Presents five major exhibitions a year by contemporary visual artists. www.aceart.org
We are on Treaty 1 Territory. On the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. We offer our respect and gratitude to the caretakers of this land.
