Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing

Film

Born 1993 in Nanaimo, Canada
Lives in Vancouver, Canada

Sydney Frances Pascal, who is a citizen of the Lil’wat Nation, has focused her artistic practice on examining how the political and social repercussions of settler colonialism continue to impact Indigenous lives in North America today. Combining elements of documentary and digital filmmaking, Pascal’s distance (2022) explores the cultural and social ties linking family, landscape, and homeland. In the video n̓ áskan nwálhen ninskúz7a (i am going to meet my daughter) (2023), Pascal delves into the history of her people’s forced displacement. The film opens with shots of a vast natural landscape, shifting to a ghostly figure lighting a fire on Lil’wat territory at Lilloet Lake. Archival audio tells of Pascal’s mother and grandmother, Maria and Attsie Theresa Pascal—both of whom are Lil’wat—who were separated by Canadian child services during the 1960s "Sixties Scoop" and for years placed in different homes. Manifesting belonging through representation of fire-building, Pascal’s film presents offerings that challenge the arbitrary political borders resulting from colonialist oppression.