Mads Warnica-Powers (they/them) is a queer non-binary white settler, working and living as an uninvited guest on the unceded and ancestral territory of Kjipuktuk in Mi’kma’ki. They are a community arts pedagogist, interdisciplinary craftsperson, and diviner who navigates the world through experiences of learning disabilities, Madness, and fatness. Driven by a curious-led resiliency, their personal work considers how healing can be both found and alchemized through the ongoing entanglements of lived experience, divination, sensorial epistemology, and meaning-making. They are a BealArt Alumni with a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts (2023), currently in the Masters of Art Education Program at NSCAD University
Positionality Statement
My name is Mads and I am a 26-year-old white settler of Scandinavian/Scottish ancestry currently living as an uninvited guest on/with the unceded territory of Kjipuktuk (‘Halifax’) in Mi’kma’ki. I honor the Peace and Friendship treaties. I identify as trans non-binary, queer, pansexual and non-monogamous. My pronouns are they/them/theirs. I attended H.B. Beal Secondary in Treaty 6 Township (‘London, Ontario’) where I was enrolled in the BealArt Program. I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from NSCAD University (2023) where I majored in Interdisciplinary Arts and am currently a student in the Master of Arts in Arts Education at NSCAD University. I am a community artist, harm reductionist, care activist and I prioritize safety in the spaces I share. I am neurodivergent and navigate the world through experiences of learning disabilities, fatness, madness, social anxiety, and depression. As a Master's student I am able to access the necessary resources to conduct my research, however, I recognize that my positionality is shaped by my privilege as a white settler and the resources I have access to are not available to everyone. I actively engage in critical self-reflexivity to confront my biases and privilege.
