RBC Artist In Residence: Alex Jacobs-Blum

Alex Jacobs-Blum is the RBC Artist in Residence for 2024, taking over the David Braley and Nancy Gordon sculpture atrium with an exhibition In the Shadow of the Eclipse that will engage with the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s permanent collection to explore the intersections of peace, grief, love, and loss, and our responsibilities as we move into the future together.

Alex Jacobs-Blum: In the Shadow of the Eclipse 

For a brief moment, the sky went dark, the wind calmed, and the birds became silent. We paused to honour Grandmother Moon and the Eldest Brother, the Sun. As Grandmother Moon visits the Sun, she reminds us of the accountability we hold to one another and the importance of acting with care. 

On April 8th, 2024, the moon obscured the sun’s light and the path of totality passed over Hodinöhsöni’ homelands, now known as Southern Ontario and Upper New York State. It has been told that the Hodinöhsöni’ Great Law of Peace was formed during a total solar eclipse approximately 1,000 years ago.  

The exhibition In the Shadow of the Eclipse amplifies the message of peace through the lens of the Hodinöhsöni’ Great Law of Peace and the Story of the Peacemaker. The path of the eclipse mirrors the Peacemaker’s journey to unite the Hodinöhsöni’ Nations and spread the message of great peace. In the Shadow of the Eclipse aims to revitalize our collective sense of reverence and bring our minds together as one. 

For this exhibition, I engage with the Art Gallery of Hamilton’s permanent collection to explore the intersections of peace, grief, love, and loss, and our responsibilities as we move into the future together. Through personal reflections on the teachings and practices of peace, I aim to create spaces that restore balance to ourselves and our connection with the natural world.  

Alex Jacobs-Blum (she/her) is a Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ (Cayuga) and German visual artist and curator living in Hamilton, ON. Her research focuses on Indigenous futurities and accessing embodied Ancestral Hodinöhsö:ni’ knowledge. The core of her practice and methodology is a strong foundation in community building, fostering relationships, empowering youth, and Indigenizing institutional spaces. Her creative process is rooted in storytelling and challenging hierarchical power structures. Alex endeavours to facilitate transformative change infused with love and care.

Alex Jacobs-Blum received a Bachelor of Photography at Sheridan College in 2015, where she was awarded the Canon Award of Excellence for Narrative Photography. Her artistic work has been exhibited at the University of Ottawa, Centre[3] for Artistic + Social Practice, Woodland Cultural Centre, Critical Distance Centre for Curators, and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. She is a member of the Bawaadan Collective.