“Kiona — or Kiwi, as her family calls her—grew up living with her moshom (grandpa) and a revolving door of relatives on scrip land. Affectionately called “the farm”, Kiwi shares a small portion of her home—a spot where she played with her cousins, daydreamed about her future, listened to her family’s stories across generations, and learned about the complexities of heartbreak.
In We Were Younger Once, artist Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet follows a non-linear series of mini memories growing up as a dirt kid on the prairies (an affectionate term from her mother), the wistfulness of leaving home, and the visits that will always bring her back.”
This book was written between the Summer of 2021 and Summer 2022, with support from Conundrum Press as part of their project CONUNDRUM 25. We Were Younger Once is a pocketbook of 90 single panel pages, and is Kiona’s first book.
It was written between many visits home, complete with coffee breaks and pickled garlic, and at its core is a love letter to her family and the Farm.
Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist practicing in amiskwaciwâskahikan on Treaty 6 Territory. She grew up West of the city near the hamlet of Calahoo where she lived with her relatives on scrip land. Her family lines are Cree and Métis descending from Michel First Nation, as well as Dutch and mixed European.
Kiona works in painting, printmaking, and drawing, recollecting personal stories of grief and tenderness. Her practice uses a non-linear telling of her memories through narrative work as a form of diaristic archiving. It draws from feelings of loss and enfranchisement, but also from deep belly laughter, and a gentle fondness for where the histories between herself and her family overlap and disperse.
She’s recently exhibited work at Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre (2021), Latitude 53 (2021, 2022), Khyber Centre for the Arts (2021), Harcourt House (2022), and Neutral Ground (2022). She co-curated the soil between plants with Making Space (2022), and What’s Held through TREX NW and the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (2022). Additionally, Kiona was a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor Emerging Artist Award (2022), and just finished her debut graphic novel with Conundrum Press, titled We Were Younger Once (2022).
Working alongside other artists in initiatives of community care, Kiona co-organizes Making Space in partnership with Sanaa Humayun. She likes visiting her moshom on the farm, and gossiping with her mom, relatives, and friends on the prairies.