We all go home to the stars unfolds from the word “mother.” Here, artist Michelle Sound builds a constellation of related terms, including mothering, motherland, mother tongue, and mother figure, that point to family histories, language, land, and wider community.  

Drum forms appear throughout the exhibition, each linked to specific women. Cyanotype portraits of her mother, Theresa Sound, are framed by flowers and medicines, extending a gesture of care across time. Other drum frames are covered in denim, fringe, fur, and materials associated with auntie style, acknowledging the women whose guidance, humour, and presence sustain community life.  

Central to Sound’s practice are photographs from her family archive, historical records, Cree language documents, and images from her own camera. Tearing these by hand, she marks the effects of colonial violence on Indigenous families, including her own. These are mended with seed beads, porcupine quills, caribou tufting, and other embroidery materials. Their vivid untraditional colours draw attention to the sites of repair, where damage remains visible and the image carries the record of what has been altered.  

Each work holds specific conditions shaped by different aspects of care, inheritance, and loss. Brought into relation, the exhibition frames motherhood as a complex field formed through connection, responsibility, and belonging.

Artwork courtesy of the artist. Special thanks to Ceremonial / Art for their support, and to the Royal Bank of Canada for the loan of 𝑊𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑤𝑠𝑖𝑝𝑖 from their Collection.
Exhibition documentation by LF Documentation.