Shoe design supports the wearer (me) to reflect on what I know and what I still wonder about where and how I stand on the land in Toronto. (The Spring Collection: A Boot for Wallowing in the Mud.)
…
- Visit places in the city that spark a memory from a time period in my life.
- Notice the land. (Notice what I notice, even if this means reflecting on the fact that I can’t see outside of my own worldview.)
- Enact gratitude at each site.
- Learn about the land without using books or screens.
- Use the “I know, I wonder” protocol to reflect on what I know and what I don’t know about history, treaties, Indigenous presence, etc. at each site.
- Scavenge shoe materials from the land using a Materials Exchange Ritual, or Give and Take Methodology. Use only discarded objects.
- Handle all materials with love and respect. Materials are chosen for their inherent resource value, hidden stories, and for the ways they have introduced me to the land. The materials become surrogates for what I have learned and what I still wonder.
- Choose a shoe design to reflect my current mind frame: Wallowing in the Mud. Custom fit the shoe to my foot. (*Note: design replicates my favourite pair of red boots.)
- Be self-reflective and honest during the shoemaking process. Be hyper vigilant for Eurocentric views and assumptions. Do not hide or conceal these, but stitch them into the shoes.
- Write a personal and specific Land Acknowledgement for the land.
- Accept the shoe for what it is. The shoe does not tell a definitive story, nor is it the ultimate action. It is a reflection of where I strand right now. Like all fashion, the Wallowing in the Mud boot will likely soon be out of style.
- Use the shoes to talk about living on Indigenous land with friends, family, and other Settlers.