Cease Wyss
Cease Wyss is a traditionally trained Indigenous ethnobotanist and accomplished sculptural artist. Wyss' 16-year career as an artist has been very productive with 30+ presentations, residencies, and shows. Their projects have appeared in international and local art exhibitions, most recently at MIT鈥檚 ISO Incubator Program, the Swiss Institute in New York City, The Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver, Semi-Public, 221A, Vancouver, and the Cabinet at SFU's School for Contemporary Arts. Cease has also received various accolades, including the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation鈥檚 VIVA Award for the Visual Arts and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Emily Carr University.
During their fellowship, Wyss plans to bring settler students and the larger community to various sites within the Sto:lo region, the GVRD and the Howe Sound/Sunshine Coast region of the Salish Sea. These land-based conversations and walks will begin a dialogue about those places and their original context, and to compare this with the current land use and interpretations of the land 鈥� and engaging with ideas of remediation, restoration and cultural reciprocity. Through discussions and through selected readings, these walking sessions will investigate specific cases in which local Indigenous communities are fighting local governments for sovereignty over their stolen lands and waters.
Cease's term as a Shadbolt Fellow runs from September 2025 to August 2026.