In my ceramic works I often explore my roots as a queer Ojibwe woman from Saint Paul, Minnesota. I use the time I spend with clay as a moment to reflect on my body and the clay body- our similarities, our kinship, and the land we come from. What will we make of ourselves? I have come to identify with many symbols that are often present in my work. I use clouds to represent myself, as my Ojibwe name, Miskwaanakwadookwe, means ‘Red Cloud Woman’. I use strawberries as a symbol of love, from the Ojibwe translation of ode’imin that means heart berry. My titles are frequently in Ojibwemowin because Ojibwe words are made up of morphemes that are strung together to create full descriptive sentences. I have found the polysynthetic structure of Ojibwemowin to perfectly encapsulate the artistic collisions of my intersecting identities as I circulate themes of the body, land, and love.