Sydney Frances Pascal is a member of the Lil’wat Nation currently living and working on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Pascal’s interdisciplinary practice explores family history, ancestral lands, and identity within a colonial society. Through hide tanning, video, drawing, sound and poetry, she creates multimedia installations that tell her family’s story. Grounded in land-based materials, Pascal’s work invites us to consider histories of displacement, connections to the land and water, and our ties to familial and ancestral kin. Pascal has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and currently holds the position of Manager of Aboriginal Programs in the institute’s Aboriginal Gathering Place. She has most recently participated in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s We Who Have Known Tides and The Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than The Real Thing.
-Written by Daniel Pascal
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Which ’hood are you in?
I live in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. A skip and a hop to Dude Chillin Park, where you can find all the cute dogs. It is the fourth time I’ve moved in the area since coming to Vancouver in 2018.
What do you do?
I am a creative and or artist. I have a multidisciplinary practice where I have dabbled in making sculptural installations, experimental video pieces/short films, hide tanning, skin marking, and poetry. I can’t seem to stick to one particular medium, depending on the memory or story I want to share, a particular or new material will come into the work. I also work at Emily Carr University’s Aboriginal Gathering Place, where I get to meet and support Indigenous students throughout their post-secondary journey.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently finishing a new installation for Bill Reid’s upcoming exhibition Every River Has a Mouth, curated by Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun. It is the first time I am using fish skins I have tanned as a featured element in my work.
Where can we find your work?
You can currently find my work at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the exhibition We Who Have Known Tides, curated by Camille Georgeson-Usher and at the Woven Pathways exhibit curated by Rebecca Baker-Grenier at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.
