We could all take more time to enjoy living “the good life.”
At first glance, Minobimaadisiiwin — ᒥᓄᐱᒫᑎᓰᐏᐣ: The Good Life in the Seven Grandfather Teachings is unassuming. Installed in Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre’s Window Gallery, the exhibition by ceramic artist Erin Roundsky asks viewers to slow down and sit with seven hand-thrown vessels, each representing one of the Seven Grandfather Teachings: honesty, respect, love, humility, truth, wisdom, and bravery.
The title refers to Minobimaadisiiwin, a concept from Anishinaabe worldviews often translated as “the good life.” For Roundsky, it isn’t a final destination, but an ongoing practice rooted in reflection, responsibility, and learning.
“I guess I like to make functional ware,” Roundsky said in an interview with The Journal. “I like to make ceramics that people can use in their everyday life, I like the idea of making something that’s meaningful to other people, that your daily rituals can revolve around.”
That attention to daily life shapes the exhibition. While sculptural, the vessels retain the recognizable forms of vases, giving them a domestic familiarity even as they take on symbolic meaning.
Minobimaadisiiwin began during a five-week residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in winter 2025. While preparing her application to the residency, Roundsky found herself spending more time expanding her knowledge about Anishinaabemowin. “I was learning more about the language and learning more about the culture and was learning about the Seven Grandfather Teachings,” she said. “So that’s what each piece represents. I applied with the intention to make seven pieces based on those teachings, which I did.”
Though each vessel corresponds to a specific teaching, their forms weren’t rigidly predetermined. Roundsky sketched in advance but allowed the pieces to evolve through the making process, taking some inspiration from the animals associated with the Grandfather Teachings. “Love is an eagle for example. So, the vase I made is quite a lot more tall and slender, kind of more elegant, like an eagle.” she explained.
Language detailing the corresponding Grandfather Teaching are etched into the surfaces of each the vases in English, and Anishinaabemowin, written both phonetically and in syllabics. For Roundsky, this reflects her own relationship to language as something continuous rather than fully recovered.
“I’m working on learning the language. It’s a long journey. It wasn’t spoken in my household growing up,” she said. “So, my work now reflects that learning process for me, ceramics have always held an aspect of journaling.”
Rather than presenting the teachings as fixed lessons, the exhibition frames them as personal and relational. Roundsky hopes viewers bring their own experiences into the space.
“Because these pieces represent my journey, I hope that the audience might also reflect on what those individual things mean to them,” she said.
Minobimaadisiiwin inhabits a space of daily life. In doing so, it reflects Roundsky’s broader thesis that ceramics are not only objects, but also vessels for language, memory, and the everyday work of living well.
Tags
Art, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Erin Roundsky, modern fuel artist run centre, Seven Grandfather Teachings
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