Art is always close to the heart for Brianna LaPlante

Brianna LaPlante often draws upon life experiences while pursuing her passion for art.

“We have so many little memories from spending time there. I didn’t realize that it meant so much to me. Doing the mural gave me closure, in a sense, because it related so much to my teenage-hood or my young-woman-hood. Now I’m just going into my adulthood.”

LaPlante, 23, is in her fourth year of working toward a fine arts degree at the First Nations University of Canada.

Previously, she attended Thom Collegiate and played basketball for the high school’s iconic team, the Trojans.

That became clear in September, when The Yard was unveiled. It is part of the Buckets & Borders initiative, which is designed to improve communities and bring people together.

The scope of the program goes beyond simply restoring long-standing outdoor basketball courts. There is an accompanying emphasis on aesthetics, which leads to the involvement and celebration of artists such as LaPlante.

Buckets & Borders put out a call for artists earlier this year, with the submission deadline being July 22. LaPlante’s application quickly impressed members of the adjudication committee.

“Brianna quickly became a part of the Buckets & Borders team,” co-founder Justin Lee says. “Her passion for both art and basketball made her the perfect fit to be a part of the project as the chosen artist.

“We’re happy and grateful to have Brii as part of the Buckets & Borders team and proud of the incredible work she completed. The Yard would not be the same without Brianna LaPlante.

“Honestly, at the end of the day, we were just lucky to have someone who has such a deep love for art, basketball and her community.”

LaPlante is equally proud of the association.

“When it came to applying to Buckets & Borders and their court restoration for my home community, I really liked the idea that people could quite literally experience my art through the curves and the lines that I chose,” she says.

“In high school, a lot of people don’t make very big cuts. They kind of just go straight to the basket, because that’s the goal. But these lines are positioned in a way that if you were to follow them, they would be your great deep cuts or great round cuts.

“I was really considering how it would be to interact with the lines within the artwork.”

This specific artwork is different from the perspective that it is not displayed on a wall or in a gallery. It is a gigantic canvas that can be walked upon.

“I just wish I was 10 feet tall,” LaPlante says with a laugh, “so I could have a better view.”

So much of what she does reflects the viewpoint she has acquired to this point in her young life, with an emphasis on her Anishinaable/Nehihaw/Michif heritage.

“I remember asking my aunt for an eraser,” LaPlante says. “Auntie Jena said, ‘OK, here you go,’ and then I said, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to fix all my mistakes.’

“That was kind of the first profound story. That’s when I first started drawing.”

And she hasn’t stopped.

“When I’m in the middle of the process, I really like being on that roll where nothing else exists,” LaPlante says.

“Life is too short to not be doing what I love, and what I love is art. I get into a trance or into a zone when it comes to making my marks on a paper. Drawing is so expressive, so that’s why drawing is one of my main techniques. I feel like I’m in my element.”

“I really want to keep meeting people,” LaPlante says. “At the same time as meeting people, I want to maintain relationships through sports, through art.

“This is a great intersectional experience for me as somebody of many hats, because it brings a lot of people together. So, in a sense, I want art to take me into those places that keep bringing my people together.”

An accompanying goal is to pursue education and embrace art beyond the receipt of her first university diploma. A longer-term goal is to pursue a master’s degree and eventually teach.

“I will never stop learning for the rest of my life,” LaPlante says. “I guess being a life-long learner means that I will also want to be a life-long teacher.”

“I hope so,” she responds. “I just want to pass on the things that I’m good at, because I started somewhere with people who took time with me.

“Art is so indivisible from the Indigenous culture. I kind of feel that way towards my art. I never really woke up and decided ‘I want to be an artist.’ I always drew. I always emulated what I saw in front of me. I emulated what I wanted to see in front of me.

“There was no ‘aha!’ moment. It was always part of my life.”

And it always will be.

rvanstone@postmedia.com

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