I chose to do this painting because I felt like I was able to express myself better through color. There is many ways you can interpret this painting. For me each painting represents the before and after Indigenous people had to endure throughout the years. The first painting represents the ancestors before residential schools, the orange background gives off a calming energy. The second painting represents First Nation people in residential schools, those times were incredibly dark for our people, which leads me to the color I chose which is black and greys to represent the darkness and emptiness First Nation people endured. This is significant for me because a lot of my aunts and uncles especially my grandmother went to residential schools. The 3rd painting represents the effects of residential schools and the continuing genocide of our people, such as MMIW, addictions, suicide etc. Personally, this has affected me by witnessing family member lose their lives to addiction and suicide. One of my biggest fears is having a loved one go missing especially my daughter. I had painted the background blue to express the grief and loss that we endured. The fourth painting represents healing, I used education as the example of a process of healing among our people. Being able to attend post secondary school is a huge accomplishment for our indigenous people, because there was a time where we were not able to attend all. Seeing our people succeed whether they are younger or older make me genuinely happy. Growing up around non- indigenous communities I was never properly educated about my culture, so I grew up with little information about my own culture. Attending the university have giving me the opportunity to educate myself more on my culture. I chose to make the person faceless to relate to identity and that way the viewers can have an emotional connection to the painting as well. It is also a representation for all indigenous people. I truly wanted to express the emotion I felt while making this painting.