Artifacts of Grief

Kenyon shares the story of their loss of a home recently found: New Orleans. They bring with them an object of creation that honours the pain of losing home and the feeling of deeply missing a place. Through their grief story, Kenyon offers space to consider the ways in which creation can be a grief process, as we consider what it means to make and remake home. Kenyon (KD) Burton (she/they)A wayward American who bounced from Oklahoma into Texas, then on to Louisiana, before making the big move to Edmonton, Alberta in 2021. A full-time history lecturer at the University of Alberta, Kenyon loves having the opportunity to work with students, helping them to find and pursue their own curiosities about the past. Outside of teaching, Kenyon is the host of the podcast Outcasts of the Earth, a fan of the New Orleans Saints (who dat!), a new-to-hockey fan of the local Oilers, as well as a full-time pet parent to two tuxedo cats (Salvador and Oscar), plus her ride or die, a fourteen-year-old beagle named Rigby.

Tor shares the story of their journey towards peace, as they continue to work at reconciling the memories of a happy childhood with the reality of hardship and harm. Tor brings an object at once tangibly potent and symbolic of the ways in which what happens in childhood leaves wounds that risk reopening as we age and understand more about our pasts. Through their grief story, Tor offers a space to consider what healing and peace look like in the journey of grief. Tor (they/she/he) is a 34 year old mixed race queer kid, living on Treaty 6 territory. Born into a large family of multidisciplinary artists, Vic spends a lot of time pondering the potential of random objects and trying to control the urge to start projects that they definitely won’t finish. They enjoy long walks in the river valley, snuggling with their dog, and excessive snacking.This episode contains brief mention of domestic violence and suicidal ideation. Take care while listening.

Kylie Burton—English teacher and writer—shares the story of the loss of her grandparents’ and father’s businesses. Through her grief story, Kylie offers space to consider how the loss of physical places—and the sense memories they hold—can complicate the loss of the people they represent. A surprising discovery helps Kylie to honour these places and to create emotional space to consider how the loss of physical space can be navigated through memory, conversation, and practices of remembrance.

Sylvia—filmmaker and community activist—shares the story of Marigold: their beloved rescue dog. Sylvia brings an object that Marigold wore that now brings her into a space through sound and feel. Through their grief story, Sylvia offers space to think about the ways that loss can break us open and how we can acknowledge this breaking, as we work to reform who we become in the wake of loss. Sylvia Douglas (she/her/they/them) is a filmmaker from the Canadian Prairies and is of settler descent. Their films are about grief, liminality, and queerness. Sylvia's formal education was in Literature and Nonprofit Management, then later, they came to filmmaking through community learning. They have written, directed, and produced seven short films and a documentary series. Sylvia is currently writing a feature length screenplay between working in the queer community, volunteering at their independent cinema, and running TTRPGs for their friends.

Carolyn Reny (she/her)—a curious person, by nature—shares her experiences with travel. She brings an object that represents the movement through space that has resulted in both loss and change in her life, many times over. Through her grief story, Carolyn offers a space to think about holding contradictory emotions together so that we might welcome the way our experiences unmake and remake us.

Ashley Meyer—artist and art educator—shares the story of her grandfather: Herman Kinzner (1931-2014). She brings an object that once belonged to him and now is part of her home. Through her grief story, Ashley offers a space to think about the way objects can provide an ongoing relationship with our lost loved ones, as well as an opportunity to think about differing rituals of remembrance that exist outside of the cemetery.

Every Thursday, an artifact serves as a conduit for a grief story. Kylie Burton and Elliott Kuss host Artifacts of Grief, an intentional space of grief sharing that welcomes the messy, complex, ongoing process of grief. In sharing stories of the griefs we all live with, Artifacts of Grief challenges the individualization of grief; instead, the show seeks to understand grief as an experience that reveals the beauty and necessity of our connections to people, places, and identities.