Edward Poitras is a Métis artist based in Regina, Saskatchewan. A member of the Gordon First Nation and resident of Treaty Four Territory, he works in diverse media and extends beyond the borders of identity to consider the self in global terms. For Border Zones Poitras chose to look closely at structures of inclusion and exclusion within communities, whether geographically determined or across established boundaries. His installation, entitled Cell (2010), was initially inspired by the incarceration of Leonard Peltier, and suggests that political and personal borders may be both enforced and desired.

Poitras’ work is inspired by the history of place and is often executed as ritual, incorporating traditional, natural, and technological processes and materials. He has become known for directing an ironic sense of play at cross-disciplinary boundaries while engaging at once with the past and present, the suppressed and the present, and the co-existence of disparate world views.

When asked by the curator how he would describe his installation, Cell, in terms of a question it asks, Edward answered, “Imagine your car running as it warms up, and then imagine a polar bear drowning. Is there a connection? Is there a connection between the civil rights movement and now? And why is there a post office in the museum?”