Charting One’s Path: Sigils of Sovereignty by Yang Lim

Veronika Marks, Sigils of Sovereignty, 2023, Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB. Photo by Liisa Otchie.

Engagement, reflection, and connection: these are some processes that drive Veronika Marks’ artistic practice. In her interactive performance Sigils of Sovereignty, Marks encourages possibilities for storytelling and community, through which she explores how art can facilitate opportunities for people to connect and heal.   

Although people may feel uncertain about what to expect, Marks’ friendly and open manner will put them at ease. Invited to join her circle, people are asked to reflect on what they may desire, or what is significant to them, and then to leverage these moments of reflection to create symbols of intentional mindfulness that may signify or signal towards a possible resolution.   

People can create their own sigils with the paper and markers that Marks provides. Depending on their life experience and background, people will take away something different from their experiences with Marks.  What her performance seems to reveal is how seemingly mundane and individualistic actions within a shared space can, collectively, facilitate the emergence of positive energies and new opportunities for interpersonal interactions.  While working on their sigils, people may converse as much or little as they wish with Marks, whatever makes them feel more comfortable.  Once people are finished, they are asked to drop their completed sigils into Marks’ container.  With the collected sigils, Marks will conduct a ritual performance in honour of the people who created them. 

Like Ryan Wispinski’s We Will ART YOU! in this year’s festival, Marks’ work emanates from a very personal place, through which she explores how art can function as a form of therapy and healing.  Motivated by interests in the mystical and spiritual, Marks is interested in exploring how negative experiences and energies can be channelled and transformed through acts of artistic creation into something positive, meaningful, and empowering. 

For people who have not experienced Veronika Marks’ performance yet, one more opportunity is available on Saturday, July 15th, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm.  Marks can be found around Churchill Square’s northeast corner, near The Scream.