This piece is about the conflict between my perceptions of Canada throughout my life. The images were drawn digitally with a tablet in Autodesk Sketchbook, and the interactive animation was achieved through Adobe XD. I did this in consideration of the online gallery.
The first image represents my initial perception as a child. I had thought that Canada was a perfect place and was always very proud of being Canadian. For my family, Canada was a haven – my grandparents and great-grandparents moved from the Netherlands, Poland, and Hungary prior to and after World War II. They were able to escape the adversities of their home countries to live better and safer lives. For this reason, I had always viewed Canada as this welcoming refuge that allowed my family and I to be safe and free. In the piece, this perception of pride is represented by the crisp maple leaf. The connections to my family that immigrated to Alberta are represented by the fireworks – the colours are from the flags of the countries they were from. A younger version of myself with my immediate family on Canada Day is included.