Gracie’s creative component was a mixed-media piece of performance art that serves as a self exploration of her Indigenous roots, culture, traditions, and artwork. The project focused on her re-learning an Indigenous hoop dance that she did in Northern Canada as a child. Since she did not have access to the specific hoops required for the dance in Germany, she built them by hand. The hoops were then color coded according to how connected Gracie felt to her childhood, family, and culture, despite living so far away. The hoops were also dated and displayed at the final creative component exhibition. The performance itself was based off of a script that Gracie had written herself about the effects that the racism within the foster care system in Northern Canada has on Indigenous children, and how these children are beginning to reconnect to their cultures through art, especially with the influence of social media. The performance included audio clips of the script and film clips of Gracie making the hoops while she performed the hoop dance.

Gracie Kuppenbender

Project supervisor: Nina Tecklenburg