The Territory Between Us

How might the human body write choreography into a mask and then, how might the mask write choreography onto human bodies?

In 2018, I approached Bracken Hanuse Corlett (Wuikinuxv/Klahoose) to ask if he would carve me a mask. We then spent a year talking with each other—over coffee, via text messages and emails. These conversations were between two artists getting to know each other. They touched upon our relationship to the land and waters where we live, to art, to traditions, and to our families and loved ones. We talked about our respective relationships to masks in general.

We talked of the mask as a representation of the territory between us: me, an immigrant and him, Indigenous to the west coast of Turtle Island. We would refer to the mask as “The Territory Between Us”.