Artist Statement: Authentic Aboriginal (Longhouse Series) is a tongue-in-cheek poke at the debate over what authentic aboriginal art and culture is.
Aiming to shed light on the dark, hidden history that Canada continues to harbour towards its Aboriginal people; Sonny Assu’s work is conceptually and aesthetically designed to challenge the authenticity of Aboriginal art while simultaneously reflecting upon our western civilization’s consumption culture.
His work is a richly layered introspection of our consumer driven monolithic society. He infuses his work with wry humour to open the dialogue towards the use of consumerism, branding and technology as totemic representation. Within this, his work deals with the loss of language, loss of cultural resources and the effects colonization upon the indigenous people of North America.