Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet (she/her) is a mixed Cree, Métis, and Dutch-settler artist coming from scrip land, and descending from Michel First Nation. Kiona is currently practicing in amiskwaciwâskahikan, where she primarily works in painting and printmaking while exploring stories of grief and tenderness.
Her practice uses a non-linear telling of memories through narrative work as a form of personal archiving. It draws from feelings of loss, displacement, and enfranchisement, but also from moments of deep belly laughter.
Paired with her studio practice, Kiona has also been working alongside other artists in initiatives of community care, co-organizing Making Space in partnership with Sanaa Humayun. Making Space is a visual-arts focused BIPOC peer mentorship group prioritizing collaboration through workshops, artist visits, studio hangouts, and a shared love of gossip, support, and privacy.
Most recently Kiona has shown collaboratively in Sahkitok Mistahi at Ociciwan, and in her solo show These Are the Things at Latitude 53. She likes gossiping in prairie grasses and visiting her moshom on the farm (though she herself is not a very good farmer).
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Drawing by Kiona and her moshom, Ernie Callihoo (2007)
Education
Diploma in Fine Art- Macewan University
Bachelor of Fine Art- University of Alberta
Group Exhibitions
Landmarks, The Works Art and Design Festival, and Elk Island Park- 2017
Anthropocities, Shaw Conference Centre-2018
ᐋᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ Âcimowin, Coral Plaza-2019
Gently Used, Stollery Gallery- 2019
Suspension/ Complication, Stollery Gallery- 2020
Incidental Folds, SNAP Gallery- 2020
Sahkitok Mistahi, Ociciwan- 2021
Solo Exhibitions
Kiona Ligtvoet at Parallel Space- 2020
These Are the Things, Latitude 53- 2021
Residencies/Community Projects
Emerging Artists Apprenticeship, Nina Haggerty- 2019
Writing From Here, Latitude 53- 2020
MAG Mentorship Exchange, Mitchell Art Gallery- 2020
In Community, SNAP Gallery- 2021
Visibility in the City, billboard project in collaboration with Paxsi- 2021
Visiting Artist Residency, St. Michael's Printshop- 2021 (postponed)
Publications
We Were Younger Once, pocketbook with Conundrum Press (release date TBD)
These Are the Things: Kiona Ligtvoet, Galleries West by Megan Klak-2021
Work
Co-Organizer and Co-Gossiper at Making Space- 2020, ongoing
Community Coordinator at Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre- 2021, ongoing
Grants
Creators' Reserve, Edmonton Arts Council- 2020
Major Project Grants for Individuals and Collectives- 2021
Contact Me