Lara Bode | Fish Camp

Jul 21

Lara Bode
Fish Camp

EDGE GALLERY
August 7 - 29, 2026
Opening Reception: August 7, 5-7pm

The works in Fish Camp are flickering memories kept fresh in my mind by sorrowful expressions of loss that I cannot fully comprehend. Our salmon come home to us in progressively fleeting numbers. Each year they face the brunt of climate change and human interventions to the path they have followed for generations. This has caused many indigenous families to forgo traditions that perhaps they thought would never disappear. Many years ago, my family opted to abstain from harvesting in hopes of helping the salmon in any little way they could, however the result of this a generation never experiencing a cultural practice that had sustained indigenous people in the north since time immemorial. As a young artist increasingly aware of this, I have been exploring my few memories of harvesting salmon through drawing, painting and textiles.

My memories are of the sun shining through a blue tarp; my mom cutting salmon pulled from the net. I remember the smoke and the fish hanging to dry. I remember the river and the dry summer heat. I began exploring the material of these memories, thinking about the canvas used in wall tents, and picking bits of charcoal off burnt logs became my faux tapestries which feature prominently in Fish Camp. My interest in bright artificial colours came from wanting to make an absence visible. I wanted every salmon unaccounted for to be featured. Fish camp is about a way of life and a source of food, gone by no fault of the people forced to face the brunt of the loss. It is an exploration of what happens when climate change interrupts the intergenerational passing on of knowledge.

LARA BODE

Lara Bode (b. 2003) is a Northern Tutchone visual artist currently residing in Whitehorse, YT. Her works blend the visual language of traditional indigenous art with western notions of painting and drawing. Lara works primarily in oil on unstretched canvas with textile-based interventions such as embroidery and beading. She uses this interdisciplinary approach to situate herself as an artist raised with indigenous values living in an inherently extraction-driven society. Lara has studied art in Vancouver, BC, at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she received her BFA (2026).

We asked Lara some questions about the exhibition, art influences, and favourite supplies.

Explain what you do in 100 words
I create works through painting and drawing with textile based interventions. I do this usually by layering paint on top of a pastel or charcoal drawing then beading or embroidering the canvas. My works take great influence from beaded regalia in archives and museums. I am often looking at sled dog blankets and mukluks for inspiration in crafting my visual language.

What is your favourite piece in the show? Why?
I think my favourite work is always changing to the most recent work I finish. If you had asked me what my favourite work was a year ago I might have said my "Salmon Tarp", but now I think my multiple "Fish Skins" are my favourite.

What piece was the most difficult to create? Why?
Because these works are sorta a culmination of my degree, each work I am pushing my self to my limits. Looking back, my biggest jump was my "Rose hip Tapestry". I was really pushing my material exploration with that one. The fringe/unraveling of the canvas was stained a vibrant blue, and i really let it eat into the canvas more.

Who/what are your biggest art influences?
Currently I am very inspired by the works of Zoe Anne Cardinal Cire and Brenda Draney. So I am looking a lot at contemporary indigenous art and I am also looking at traditional beadwork and researching into the history of Yukon First Nations visual art.

How has your artistic practice changed over time?

My works started very illustrative. I was an illustrator and still am at heart. I think you can still see some of my illustration roots coming out in my work. However, as I progressed through art school I became more interested in going outside my comfort zone and further into the fine art world. Generative A.I also became proficient at generating images during my 2nd year of Uni and I found this to push my work away from the digital and further into the tangible.