Alcove Lobby

Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet
“And Still”

Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet

Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist practicing in amiskwaciwâskahikan on Treaty 6 Territory. She grew up West of the city near the hamlet of Calahoo where she lived with her relatives on scrip land. Her family lines are Cree and Métis descending from Michel First Nation, as well as Dutch and mixed European.

 

Kiona works in painting, printmaking, and drawing, recollecting personal stories of grief and tenderness. Her practice uses a non-linear telling of her memories through narrative work as a form of diaristic archiving. It draws from feelings of loss and enfranchisement, but also from deep belly laughter, and a gentle fondness for where the histories between herself and her family overlap and disperse.

 

She’s recently exhibited work at Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre (2021), Latitude 53 (2021, 2022, 2023), Khyber Centre for the Arts (2021), Harcourt House (2022), Neutral Ground (2022), and The New Gallery (2023). She co-curated the soil between plants with Making Space (2022), and What’s Held through TREX NW and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (2022). Additionally, Kiona was a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor Emerging Artist Award (2022), The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (2023), and just finished her debut graphic novel with Conundrum Press, titled We Were Younger Once (2022).

 

Working alongside other artists in initiatives of community care, Kiona co-organizes Making Space in partnership with Sanaa Humayun. She likes visiting her moshom on the farm, and gossiping with her mom, relatives, and friends on the prairies.