Aylan Couchie (she/her) is a Nishnaabekwe interdisciplinary artist and writer hailing from Nipissing First Nation. She is a NSCAD University alumna achieving a BFA in sculpture and installation. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design at OCAD University where she focused her thesis on reconciliation and its relationship to monument and public art. She’s currently in her third year of study at Queen’s University where she’s working on her PhD in the Cultural Studies program researching areas of land+language+Indigenous placemaking through mapping, naming and public art. Her research-based practice explores the intersections of colonial/First Nations histories of place, culture and Indigenous erasure as well as issues of (mis)representation and cultural appropriation. She’s been the recipient of several awards including an “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture” award through the International Sculpture Centre and a Premier’s Award through Ontario Colleges. Most recently, she was chosen by Queen’s University as their nominee for the 2023 SSHRC Talent Award. She served as Chair of Native Women in the Arts until 2020 and lives and works from her home community of Nipissing First Nation in Northern Ontario.
Current Exhibition: in parallel at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (February 3rd – May 14th 2023)
“How do we put differing liberation movements in dialogue to find the shared experiences that can make all of us co-conspirators, comrades, and allies? In her photographs, Anique Jordan confronts racist stereotypes with intimate portraits of Black people, while Julia Rose Sutherland engages with Indigenous traditions and knowledge to create sculptures that foster a collective healing. Joi T. Arcand reclaims Indigenous land with a site-specific commission that marks The Power Plant’s Fleck Clerestory with affirmations in nēhiyawēwin (Cree), while Simon Fuh’s vinyls retrace the original paths of two rivers in Ontario that colonists rerouted. A film co-directed by Rouzbeh Akhbari and Felix Kalmenson, and sculptures by Aylan Couchie reveal how nation-states continuously disrupt lands and people.”
Curatorial statement excerpt. read more – https://www.thepowerplant.org/whats-on/exhibitions/in-parallel
BLOG POST: in parallel – The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery – photos from the opening night, curatorial statement, curatorial essays and other writings about the four works in the exhibition as well as artist statements.
CV and Contact Info
LinkTree portal to find me on Social Media
Things to Check Out:
- Article: “Zeal Without Wisdom: Rushing for Reconciliation” by Aylan Couchie, CMagazine, Issue 139, Fall 2018
- Article: “The ‘Site-Specific’ art and politics of Aylan Couchie”, Anishinabek News, February 2018
- Podcast: Talking Art with Aylan Couchie, The Roundtable Podcast with Wayne K. Spear, January 13, 2018
- Article: Anti-seal hunt rhetoric ignores facts and suppresses Indigenous culture, by Ian Mosby & Aylan Couchie, The Globe and Mail, Oct 2017
- Article: Returning Our Voices to Us: The recent debate about cultural appropriation shows that true reconciliation is not about saying sorry, it’s about listening to Indigenous Voices by Aylan Couchie, IRPP Policy Options, May 2017
Aylan Couchie 
I don’t have a Twitter or Instagram account and there’s no e-mail listed for you, so I hope you don’t mind my reaching you here.
I just wanted to thank you for putting up the side-by-side pictures of Norval Morriseau’s work and Amanda PL’s. I’d seen paintings by both, but not of the same subjects the way those two are, so I didn’t understand why painting in the same style as Mr. Morriseau or using the same colour palette would upset someone as long as the subjects weren’t the same or a traditional/teaching story or an element of one hadn’t been used inappropriately. Having seen the two paintings side by side, I’m don’t see how anyone could see them and think ‘inspired by’ was even remotely accurate. If something inspires you, you make something that may reflect the original in some way, but is very clearly something of your own. That’s not what happened with those two paintings: it looks as if Amanda PL just plain copied Mr. Morriseau’s. Making a copy is fine if you clearly identify it as a copy because then the person who made the original gets the credit for creating it, but it’s not fine when you copy something so closely people can barely tell the difference and then try to pass it off as yours.
Those pictures together were worth a thousand words. Once again, thank you for posting them.
Dear Aylan,
I saw your tweet about the WEP article. I’m glad it was a good experience for you.
And thank you! We really appreciate that you agreed to share your story with us.
Please email me your address and i’ll send you a copy of the paper.
Best,
Janet Morassutti, Managing editor, WEP