Megan/Guná Jensen

Guná is of Dakhká Tlingit and Tagish Khwáan Ancestry from the Dahk’laweidi Clan which falls under the wolf/eagle moiety. Her family has made the southern lakes area of the Yukon their home for numerous generations. She is a Tlingit artist, dancer, language learner and lifelong student of Northwest Coast design. Guná has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a major in Visual Arts. She often refers to her lifelong community work on her ancestral lands as her masters degree. As an artist and teacher, it is Guna’s mission to help dismantle the colonial processes developed in society and education. An irony in Guna’s work is activated through combining Tlingit Formline (the art of her ancestors) with oil painting – a medium with a strong European history. Visually and symbolically she interrogates colonial efforts to assert domination, and exposes the consequences of the the colonial project reaching the shores of her Tlingit ancestors. In literal terms, Guna’s work embodies the relationship between indigenous and nonindigenous people, that we will never be able to regress back to a time prior to the devastations of colonialism. Her contemporary practice embodies living this paradoxical experience. Though the contemporary colonial project continues to assume supremacy over indigenous ways of knowing and being, Guná resiliently pushes forward without requesting permission to speak, and to share her ancestor’s Lingít worldview. Guná acknowledges she will never stop learning as a Tlingit artist and teacher. Her practice is dedicated to preserving and understanding the highly esteemed art form and practices of her ancestors. “Since time immemorial our people have been malleable to the winds of change, had they not done this, we simply would no longer exist. This is about telling their story, however this is also about documenting our stories through art, song, dance and language for all the future generations to come.” – Guná

“Self Portrait.” Oil on Canvas
5’ x 4’

2019

Please enquire for availability. 

From behind, the embers emerge from both passion and anger. In the foreground, a human figure stands as the centrepiece. From one foot, they propel from the ground. From the other foot, they are being pressed to the ground by the surrounding walls. The human’s fingers bend, yet they do not surrender. They continue to push the walls, refusing to be confined. The walls may try to contain the being, but they did not know
that beings like us cannot be contained. This is a metaphor of the current lived experience that indigenous people face in our institutions. More often than not, to venture into post secondary education means to compromise fundamentally who we are indigenous people. We are constantly surrounded by walls mimicking the nightmares of our grandparents and great grandparents. It continues to perpetuate a history of assimilation and colonial genocide. “Self Portrait” is both a reflection and a statement: That though the contemporary colonial project continues to assume supremacy over indigenous people, this being resiliently pushes forward without requesting permission
to speak.

Kéet awsik’ít’ wé tlax̱ḵúnáx sh idzix ̱ áni ̱ ḵáa.
“The Killerwhale Eats the Narcissist Whole”
Oil on Canvas.
36” x 24”
2023

Sold.

The narcissist attempt to reach for safety with its claws. But cannot escape their fate. The Killerwhale swims up from the bottom of the frame, fulfilling a long awaited Justice. This works is an ode to anyone who has ever been a victim to a narcissist. The painting expresses grief, but also narrates the journey of one taking back their sacred power.

K’alayéI’ll áwé taayí daa yaa ḵug̱
áat akawsinei aag̱
áa du s’éig̱
i du leitóoxt uwxíx ̱
“The liar wove a nightmare and then choked on their smoke”
48” x 36”
Oil on Canvas
2023

Please enquire for availability. 

The term “gaslighting” was first used in a British play from the 1930’s. The play was called “Gas Light” and was about a husband who mentally and emotionally manipulated his wife into believing she is crazy by changing the intensity of the gas lamps in their home. He was so persistent in denying her reality that he eventually convinced her that she was crazy. The film is very upsetting to watch, as you witness a woman slowly begin to believe she is insane and eventually committed to a mental institution, and the husband steals her inheritance. Gaslighting remains one of the most insidious forms of psychological abuse. Too often we are told we are crazy, when really our intuition knows that something is wrong. In this work, I interrogate the gaslighter and ruin them at their own game.