Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, her Indigenous relations come from Meadow Lake region, SK and Lestock, SK. Aubichon’s practice is laboriously reliant on retracing familial memories and connections. She uses painting as a way to foster personal healing.

As an extension of her practice, she has begun a traditional Indigenous tattoo mentorship to acknowledge the memories that bodies hold, support the healing, grieving and the revival of traditional tattoo practices.

She graduated from the University of Regina in the Spring of 2021 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, minoring in Indigenous Art History. Aubichon is the 2021 BMO 1st Art! Regional winner for Saskatchewan.

Holly Aubichon investigates topics of urban Indigeneity and how ancestral knowledge is carried through to urban spaces using memory recollection, the land, and body through forms of painting, writing, tattooing and curation.

  • Art is healing. Aggressive assimilation and its aftermaths have had a devastating effect on my family. Members are dispersed and deceased. My paintings symbolically recovers and restores them to my circle. Before painting, I research these family members by any means possible - talking with relations and consulting online archives to reassemble memories of my family and locate parts of my Métis and Cree histories. Through research and painting, I process memories, reconnect familial relations and navigate my place within those renewed connections. I am devoted to art-making as a way to document and preserve my paternal lineage while placing myself as the leading matriarch within these painted narratives to connect to who my matriarch was. My painting shows an intimate urban interior. I want to show how Indigenous people do their best to continue our traditional ways while adapting to contemporary reality. My paintings are representational but include subtle shifts in perspective and are dimly lit to suggest memory recall, emotional stress, spiritual presence, ceremony, tenderness, and the weight of intergenerational trauma.

  • EDUCATION

    Bachelors of Fine Arts, Indigenous Art History Minor

    2016-2021 (with Distinction) The University of Regina

    GROUP EXHIBITIONS

    • The Soil Between Plants, Latitude 53, Edmonton AB December 2021

    • Surfacing; Without Haste, Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK April 2021

    • SELF: An Introspective Exhibition, Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK 2021

    CURATORIAL WORK

    Storied Objects: Métis Art In Relation, consultation and wrote extended labels 2023

    Remai Modern, Saskatoon, SK

    i’m remembering how tracks are made. Neutral Ground (Curated through Sâkêwêwak Artists Collective Inc.) Regina,SK 2022

    I have Dreamt; Planning For The Unknown, Neutral Ground ARC Regina, SK 2021

    COLLECTIONS

    Works held in private collections in Regina, SK. 2018-Present

    AWARD & RECOGNITION

    BMO 1st art Award, Saskatchewan winner 2021

    Theresa Ricci Memorial Scholarship in Fine Arts 2021

    Faculty of Media, Arts & performance - Dean’s Honours List 2020

    PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

    Artistic Director Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artists Collective Inc. 2022 - Present

    Administrative Director Sâkêwêwak First Nations Artists Collective Inc. 2021 - 2022

    CARFAC Saskatchewan Artist Membership 2020-Present

    MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, SK)

    Individual Member 2018 - Present

    Gallery Facilitator 2018 - 2021

    Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre

    Individual Member 2018 - Present

    Board of Directors - Secretary 2018 - 2020

  • EXPERIENCE

    Virtual Interior Tattoo Gathering (Online, Hosted by Dion Kazas)

    Official Responder 2021

    First Nations University of Canada (Regina, SK)

    Indigenous Tattoo Panel Facilitator 2021

    MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, SK)

    Gallery Facilitator 2018- 2021

    Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) (Regina, SK)

    Conservation and Collections Care Assistant 2019-2021

    Sask Arts Alliance (Regina, SK)

    Student Internship - Supervised by Barbara Meneley 2020

    RCMP Repatriation Project (Regina, SK)

    Student Research Assistant for Sherry Farrell Racette 2019

    Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre (Regina, SK)

    Archival Assistant 2018

    PUBLICATIONS

    Kablys, V., Demers, E., Aubichon, H., Ranger, A. 2019. Metamorphosis: Moving, Rehousing, and Transforming Access Potential for the Royal Saskatchewan Museum’s Indigenous Studies Collection. [In Preparation] To be presented at the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property, 2021, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

    PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, AFFILIATIONS, ACTIVISM

    CARFAC Indigenous Protocols Advisory Committee 2021- Present

    University of Regina (SK)

    President's Advisory Committee on Art (PACA) 2019-2021

    Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre (SK)

    Board of Directors - Secretary 2018-2020

    SKILLS

    Collection Management Software:

    KE EMu

    Computer Knowledge:

    Apple operating systems

    Windows operating systems

    Imaging and Documentation:

    Digital and analogue photography (SLR/DSLR)(Intermediate skill level)

    Preventive Conservation and Collections Care:

    Artifact packing and transportation

    Artifact and collection storage solution fabrication

    Appropriate handling of artifacts

    Writing condition reports on objects

    Minor conservation application

    Collection Assessment :

    Collect a summary of the needs of the collection maintenance

    Suggests organizational changes based on policies, resources and budgets

    Present collected data with recommendations for change, adaption, accessioning and deaccessioning

    HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING

    Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) and 2020

  • 2022 - The Meat and Potatoes for Métis Gatherings - https://blackflash.ca/expanded/the-meat-and-potatoes-for-metis-gatherings/

    Between the Ruffles - https://blackflash.ca/expanded/between-the-ruffles-metis-storytelling/

    2021 - COMMUNITY WATCH: RUTH CUTHAND - https://mackenzie.art/community-watch-ruth-cuthand/