about
Nikki Manzie spent 2 years working as a professional artist in her early 20’s, painting by commission and being represented by a gallery in Ottawa. As a single mother of 2 at age 23, she let go of aspirations to work full-time as an artist and simply maintained her practice as she focused on earth-based medicine, movement and massage practices. At 45, the land became her teacher. In strict, patient and sometimes harsh lessons, her experience with the land peeled back curtains from her eyes to reveal privilege and blindness to her responsibility to the land, spirits, ancestors, and to the People’s whose lands she lives upon. Reorienting herself has been uncomfortably slow, difficult, and humbling, with a lot of backward learning. However, this has also become the main focus of her work as an artist and craftsperson.
artist statement
At 51, I began to research and write about traditional folklore and art practices of my Ukrainian ancestors. Seasonal & life rites and folk medicine inform my teaching and professional art & craft practice. Whether mentoring or creating, I work in ceremony, with prayer and intention. I work to inspire relational living – to the land we live and walk upon; to each other; and to spirits, ancestors, and traditions. In particular, my work is centred within the question: how do I respectfully root Ukrainian sacred knowledge and traditions (which includes the crafts that I practice) in a land where I am guest?
