Sheila Novak: Singing Sap

Abstract

As the culmination of Sheila Novak’s M.F.A. at Cornell University, Singing Sap centers site-based, arboreal, and culinary practices alongside social engagement, psychological healing, and familial archival digging. Locally, the Haudenosaunee have known maple as the leader of the trees for generations, whereas Novak’s relationship with the tree began with imitation corn syrup products. With materials formed through maple sugaring, this exhibition shares her ongoing question: how does she, a settler, engage in Indigenous forest-based food practices in reciprocity with the woods and the people who have developed this foodway? Through a praxis of sugaring, listening, and singing, Novak hopes to understand how our survival, in breath and in body, is deeply linked to maple.

Biography