Create more opportunities for us to come create collaboratively.
Anastasia Erickson
What does the MTL #BLM street mural mean to you? How was your experience creating this outstanding art piece with various Montreal artists?
For me, it was a space to come together and heal with other Black folks during a very difficult time. With COVID and renewed attention to the habitual state violence enacted through the police on Black and Indigenous bodies, the community needed a place to let our emotions flow. We needed the chance to connect with each other again, and to create in response to the chaos we’re living through. It was energizing and healing for me, it was more than physical. I’m grateful for the space we shared.
Can you tell us about your creative process or your practice? Is there a main message you want to communicate when creating your art? If yes, what is it?
All I ever want to do with my practice is honor my ancestors and our future descendants. We’re lucky to live in a time when we can access art made by ancestors who dreamed of liberation for us — online and anytime. For me, it’s an honor to carry their symbols like batons to younger generations; we need reminders that we should work together, that we come from a long line of dreamers and creators, that our future - and the world - waits for us. Those hopes should be maintained, and can be, in part, through art.
How did you come up with the idea for the artwork of your letter on the Mtl #BLM street mural and can you help us understand its meaning ? And where do you see your art going: what are some of your dreams/goals, short or long term?
I don’t really practice primarily as an artist, but I would be grateful for more opportunities to work with my partner in this same fashion again! I have an explanation of the process and design that I wrote with my creative partner HERE
How has the current social crisis (COVID & BLM) impacted your career and your art or creative process? Do you think art plays a role in the fight against racial inequality and police brutality?
I think art plays important roles in both individual and community health; it gives us the chance to express ourselves and to connect through shared experiences and emotions. Racism and white supremacy work overtime to crush us both physically and psychologically — when we care for and connect with ourselves and each other through art, we resist those violent oppressions, and we celebrate our resilience and creativity. I think that’s vital in the fight for equality, in the fight for Black life and joy.
About Anastasia EricksonAnastasia Erickson was born in Chicago and presently resides in Tiohtiá:ke/ Montréal, where she recently completed her BFA in Art History and will be shortly beginning her MA in the same. In 2019, she was an intern and consultant for the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, doing research with the museum’s collection of African art. Currently, while preparing for graduate studies, Anastasia works as a research assistant for the Initiative for Indigenous Futures. 
