Hadih and hello, my name is Jordana Luggi. I am a multidisciplinary artist currently residing in Vancouver, BC. I am Dakelh-Wetsuwet'en and am originally from the northern interior of British Columbia, Canada. I was brought up in my father's small community along the Stellaquo River and the Yellowhead Highway. As a child, the land of my ancestors surrounded me: lakes, rivers, rolling hills. Although it was a small community surrounded by beautiful countryside, I was raised in a complex social and political climate that shaped my early childhood experiences: the Yellowhead Highway is also known as the Highway of Tears due to the high number of women, many of whom were indigenous, who went missing or were murdered along its roads. Sometimes I struggled to coexist with those who would rather have seen indigenous peoples erased from history. Yet, I am here, and we are here. Much of my art is either directly or indirectly informed by my personal experiences.
During a family vacation in Vancouver, I was nine years old when I walked by the windows of Emily Carr University and decided that I wanted to be an artist like the ones I saw working in their studios. Ten years later, I was enrolled as a student at that same art school. I graduated from the Photography program of Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2014. During my years in Vancouver, I have fulfilled many of my dreams to become a part of communities and subcultures I had little or no access to in the north: LGBTQ+, roller derby, street dance, a large indigenous artist network, animals rights, yoga, Hindu temples.
Throughout the years, I have played with many different crafts and mediums, however, I have always circled back to photography. Quite simply, I find putting my own spin on imagery is empowering because I control the subject and focus. Like many artists, I am the reserved introvert type and, early in my life, I felt voiceless wished I was invisible. Visual art was always there to be my voice when I couldn't speak. Now I want myself and others like me to be seen, heard, and celebrated, and I've chosen portrait photography as the medium to achieve that.
*The above portrait was taken by Red Works Photography