In xʷəlməxʷ child, Manuel Axel Strain draws on Musqueam, Secwépemc, and Syilx ways of knowing, and the discipline of Western psychology. Compositing theories of mind from across their different cultures, Strain imagines the perspective of a child who contemplates the world from beyond these existing frameworks. Through figurative paintings, transformed into pictographs and set against photographic murals, Strain’s work proposes a way of seeing that suspends judgement and challenges divisions such as past and future, old and new, self and other.

In this context, Strain embraces the uncertain and unfamiliar. The table and chairs situated throughout the installation evoke a domestic setting, but their odd dimensions create a sense of strangeness, as if the viewer is very small, or these furnishings have purposes beyond what is expected. Here, the unknown is a powerful presence. Speculation and wonder are productive points of inquiry for Strain, inviting visitors to inhabit the imaginative, transpersonal vantage of xʷəlməxʷ child.

About the artist
Manuel Axel Strain (b. 1990) is a 2Spirit artist from the lands and waters of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw, and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred homelands of their q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie) and qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) relatives. Creating artwork in collaboration with and reference to their family, shared experiences become a source of agency for Strain. They perceive their work to confront and undermine the imposed realities of colonialism, proposing a new space beyond its oppressive systems of power. Strain was recently featured in the Vancouver Special exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2021), longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Award, and was a 2022 recipient of the Portfolio Prize.

Learn more
xʷəlməxʷ child Audio Guide

Curated by Elliott Ramsey

Banner image: Tracey Strain/Eustache, Eric Strain, Elliy-May Eustache, xʷəlməxʷ child.