Clinton Minault is a Cree-Metis, Two-spirit Artist residing in Treaty 6 Territory, in amiskwacîwâskahikan also known as Edmonton.

Artist Statement

I’m in my final year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Studio Arts program at MacEwan University, focusing on painting and sculpture. My practice is rooted in educational, land-based placekeeping. I use therapeutic craft to share visual stories about nature through a two-eyed seeing perspective. Wild animals appear in my art, bringing power, history, and stories that spark imagination.

Public art belongs to the community where it lives. Consultation and open-mindedness guide me in creating relevant, thought-provoking, interactive artwork. I aim to respect the land’s histories and help people connect. When developing ideas, I consider the communities, past and present, that shape a place and will share space with the work.

Connecting with my Cree-Métis culture has introduced perspectives, including two-eyed seeing. I’m interested in bringing Indigenous and Western ways of knowing into respectful conversation, making room for overlooked histories and imagining shared futures.

My work has shifted from bright, prismatic colours toward natural palettes, offering another way to tell land-based stories. I’ve made three-dimensional pieces with reclaimed materials, including leftover wood veneer from a door manufacturer. I’m interested in exploring how recycled materials might achieve the strength and longevity required for permanent public art. Experimentation can involve failure, but I value the learning it offers while recognizing the importance of durability, safety, and maintenance. I’m also open to working with concrete and steel.

Accessibility means more than proximity; it includes opportunities to interact. Seating can encourage people to linger, creating spaces where community gathers, celebrates, and connects. Lighting offers a way to invite engagement. Seeing someone smile, pause, or become curious about my work is rewarding. I hope my art encourages people to set aside stress and take time to play and learn.

Documentation and joy are central to my practice. Therapeutic approaches, including Animal Symbol Transference, support my enjoyment of making and shape the experiences I hope to share with viewers. Conceptual, historical, and material research guide every stage of my process. I let ideas grow through attention, reflection, experimentation, and a willingness to learn from others, staying open to what community and place can teach me.

Artist Bio

Clinton Minault is a Two-Spirit Beaver Cree, Métis artist and emerging scholar based in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), on Treaty 6 Territory. Of mixed ancestry, he is also descended from settlers and acknowledges the privileges that history brings. Accountability, reflection, and reciprocity inform his relationships with land, community, and creative practice. He is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts at MacEwan University, focusing on painting, sculpture, and material exploration.

Research into his family history has deepened Minault’s connections to Indigeneity, land, and kinship, shaping his artistic storytelling. Nature and wildlife recur throughout his work, particularly displaced animal populations and the relationships between human activity and ecological change. His two-dimensional and three-dimensional works bring historical and conceptual research into conversation with experimentation, inviting audiences to consider their relationships with the environments they inhabit.

Minault combines techniques such as weaving with innovative uses of reclaimed materials. Resourcefulness is both a recognizable quality of his work and an expression of his commitment to sustainability and care for the land. He has created temporary public artworks for three editions of The Works Art & Design Festival, using reclaimed materials to communicate the importance of ecologically responsible artmaking. Through material exploration, he seeks possibilities for turning discarded resources into meaningful visual narratives.

Therapeutic approaches are integral to his practice. In a painting, Minault explored Animal Symbol Transference, using symbolism as a form of emotional safekeeping while navigating personal trauma during the creative process. He values art’s capacity to encourage feeling, reflection, and personal growth, and hopes the joy he experiences while making can inspire creativity and resourcefulness in others.

Minault’s ambition is to create monumental public artworks that tell the histories of the land while fostering optimism for the future. He sees public art as an opportunity to reach people who may not feel welcome in conventional art spaces. By prioritizing accessibility, education, and opportunities for connection, he hopes to create uplifting encounters that welcome diverse communities, including people experiencing vulnerability. His evolving practice brings together cultural reconnection, ecological awareness, and a belief in art as a shared space for curiosity, care, and possibility.