In the shadow of a Tkarón:to expressway, Secwépemc artist honours flora on forest floors

As Tania Willard constructed a depiction of a forest floor under an expressway in downtown Tkarón:to (Toronto), she reflected on both the threats to ecosystems and their importance to her people.  

“Because the fact is, we’re all in urgent times when it comes to the natural world,” the Secwépemc artist told IndigiNews.

Her new artwork Declaration of the Understory opened to the public on May 23, as part of the Bentway — a non-profit organization that utilizes public spaces to re-imagine the opportunities of urban spaces — summer exhibition, Sun/Shade. 

The exhibition featuring multiple artists, designers and researchers will be open until Oct. 5 and is free of charge. 

Each artwork explores the relation between the sun and shade, underscoring the importance of the downtown location which currently receives extreme heat events for an average of 20 days a year.

The Bentway describes on its website that the exhibition’s location in the shade of a massive expressway can “help cities adapt to rising temperatures and create more comfortable urban spaces.” 

Willard’s work is displayed underneath the Gardiner Expressway and utilizes large beams and reflective materials to depict hepatica — a wildflower that thrives in the shade of the forest’s understory — and other wildlife.

From galleries to the Gardiner

The understory is echoed by the location of Willard’s latest artwork underneath a massive downtown raised expressway that hugs shores of “Lake Ontario” at the south of the city. 

Its location is a far cry from her previous installations in major art galleries.

Willard — who previously curated the acclaimed Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture — described it as a challenging new location for art.

So she was careful in her approach. 

Using the large beams underneath the expressway as part of her canvas, Willard’s artwork brings the understory to life.

Through her research, Willard decided to showcase hepatica or liverleaf — a flower native to “Ontario” — which is small on the forest floor. She hoped to celebrate it and make it grand as the feature point of her artwork. 

Designing the flowers in a beadwork pattern became the starting point of Willard’s piece and it soon evolved into showcasing animals that relate to stories she has heard throughout her life.

Willard’s creativity brings her ideas full circle as she references the similarities between hapatica and buttercups from Secwepemcúl’ecw. In a Coyote story, he has his eyes stolen and replaces them with buttercups which exemplify how her work “has many other offshoots” and features coyotes and eagles.

“I’m always looking at relationships to things that might be introduced from our spaces and places and ecologies into other ones, and that’s a kind of a point of connection for me,” she said.

Each aspect of the beautiful artwork was specifically chosen to illustrate a broader story and showcase the connections of people, land, animals, and stories themselves.

Using reflective material, Willard notes that passing cars can activate the work and encourages visitors to use flashlights to reflect the material which will animate the images.

Willard noted that it took a small team to bring her vision to life, thanking the Indigenous Curatorial Collective who worked with the Bentway to bring her in and the crew at the Bentway who helped put the artwork together. 

A ‘plant community’ thriving in the shadows

According to the Secwepemcúl’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society, the understory is made up of the “plant community beneath the forest canopy,” and includes plants such as grasses, wildflowers and berry bushes, as well as mushrooms. 

Life on the forest floor, stated a 2021 wildfire report by the society, “is critical for the ecological health of the forests and the health and wellbeing of Secwépemc people,” the society states in a report.

In 2021, ten leaders signed the Declaration on Understory Within the Forests of Secwepemcúl’ecw, as seen in appendix 9 of the 2021 wildfire report.

“It was actually really forward thinking, I think, for the Declaration of the Understory to come out,” Willardshe said in an interview, “and it has really inspired me.”

Willard first heard of the Declaration of the Understory from previous Skeetchestn Indian Band Kúkwpi7 Ron Ignace and his wife, Secwépemc scholar and professor Marianne Ignace. 

She notes that although much attention has focused on historically colonial industries such as logging above-ground and mining underneath, the understory at the surface has often been overlooked.

“But actually the understory — so in between those two things — there’s little policy and or governance on it,” she said.

Following the Elephant Hill wildfire in 2017 — which burned approximately nearly 2,000 square kilometres of forest — the importance of forests’ understory, and the self-management of Indigenous lands, became apparent.

‘No system but the ecosystem’

Every part of Willard’s work was carefully thought out as it carries the importance of the plants and their purpose in the world. 

Declaration of the Understory features slogans from the perspective of plants in hopes to capture viewers attention such as “no system but the ecosystem” or “plant power.” 

Instead of using her language of Secwepemctsín, Willard incorporates drawings of the chemical signatures of elements that come from nutrients on the forest floor or that trees use to communicate, so there’s an inclusive language that all can understand.  

Coming from Secwepemcúl’ecw where wildfires have gotten worse each and every year, Willard is using her artistic skills to show the importance of the natural world through her portrayal of the understory.

She is hopeful that people take the time to experience the artwork and “spend some time considering where they are and how to be in good relationships to where they are in terms of the natural world.”

Although the message might not affect everyone, her artwork is there for people to learn and understand through a different lens.

“I’m always hopeful that people might stop and consider things a little bit differently, but I’m also aware that that’s not always the case, and it’s sometimes hopeful,” she says.

While discussing the support she has received, she mentions the importance of viewing art and the impact it can have on audiences.

“I’m always hopeful that people will also start to prioritize art and creative ways. I think they’re essential for us, I think they’re decolonial.” she says.

“We tell the same story in all different ways, and hopefully we all come to know those same stories and they start to make an impact on our lives.”

An artist’s path

From an early age, Willard was interested in art but said there weren’t many role models in the art space who were making a career that she could look up to.

“There wasn’t really a career path or an understanding, or even many other people I knew who were making their living as artists,” she said.

At first, Willard was drawn to graphic design, which she wanted to pursue in school. But with no classes available for her, she instead pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 

After receiving her degree from the University of Victoria, she found herself engaged in arts throughout many aspects of her life.

“I went and traveled the world and did things, and then moved back to Vancouver, and then started to get more involved in arts, but largely through social activism and social justice for both Indigenous rights and larger social justice issues,” she said.

“So like many artists or many creative people, I kind of wound my way through finding a way to make a living, until today, when I find myself consumed a lot with creative practice.”

Willard speaks on the variety of Indigenous art and how she upholds the traditional teachings and learns from those who are passing down their knowledge. 

“I continue to critique the ways that we’re positioned as not having traditional art practices when I think ours are just really misunderstood,” she says while upholding artists such as Delores Purdaby who is a master basketry artist.

Some of her artistic role models include syilx multimedia artist Barbara Marchand and Secwépemc artist Dave Seymour who she was able to work closely with and learn from.

Doing work in her own community of Neskonlith is important to Willard as she creates curriculum for Wúmec r Cqweqwelútn-kt Community Society and uses art as a strategy to inspire and “make things happen.” 

Willard is set to join the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery as the Director/Curator in January 2026, which she says provides her with more resources to help others and uphold the importance of supporting artistic practices.

“I’m always advocating, but I need other voices with me to prioritize creative work and artistic work for our region,” she said. 

“I really try to do work where, when I’m learning, I’m also providing opportunities for others to learn.”