New USask graduate’s story is told through art

By Chris Putnam

Ailah Carpenter sees art as a way to know themselves and make a mark on the world.

“There's a lot of power in just being present and being willing to be seen. So just on its own, I know creation is very impactful,” Carpenter said. “You could say that … simply being present and creating is what I very desperately want and need to do.”

The 25-year-old artist is graduating from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) at 2026 Spring Convocation with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (honours) in studio art. Their artwork has already been in the national spotlight several times.

The creation of that art is an intimate process. Carpenter works in a wide variety of media but always returns to tactile, changeable formats like printmaking.

“I like to have a lot of manual input with the media that I work with because the subjects and themes that I work with are very personal to me and very, like, I guess, uncomfortable for most people to kind of talk about. But for me, they are a daily normal,” they said.

Carpenter is Two-Spirit, mixed Indigenous/Scottish and has lived in many locations across Canada. That gives rise to feelings of disconnection, displacement and being caught between identities—themes often explored in their work.

The artist usually begins by drawing. They use rich, deep linework and dark hues, aiming to create images that evoke emotion even if the subject isn’t obviously emotional. If the piece doesn’t make sense, Carpenter will break it apart, glue something on, or switch media entirely. The important thing for them is to keep creating.

Carpenter—a member of Stanley Mission (Lac La Ronge Indian Band) who was born in Regina and made Prince Albert home—is in demand as a commissioned artist. But they prefer to work on subjects they find personally meaningful and that contribute to positive change: things like Indigenous sovereignty and supporting people out of dark spaces.

Carpenter recently contributed a woodcut relief to the 2025 book You Were Made for This World, a collection of letters to young people from celebrated Indigenous voices. They illustrated a book of stories about the cultural hero Wisahkicahk translated by their grandfather, retired Cree language professor Solomon Ratt, and the pair are in the process of finding a publisher.

Submissions by Carpenter were chosen for two high-profile Orange Shirt Day T-shirt designs: one for the City of Prince Albert and one for Remai Modern.

The City of Prince Albert shirt earned Carpenter a new kind of notoriety. It was so popular that overseas manufacturers started making bootleg copies, forcing Carpenter to send a cease-and-desist letter.

“Which is kind of a testament to the success of it, but kind of unfortunate at the same time,” they said.

In 2022, Carpenter was one of 30 artists from across Canada featured in a Pride-themed sneaker art competition hosted by eBay Canada and MARTK’D. Carpenter’s design incorporated themes of Two-Spirituality and traditional Indigenous imagery. It won first place in the competition.

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Carpenter, who plans to be a working artist after graduation, is grateful for their education in the School for the Arts in USask’s College of Arts and Science.

“It was a very enriching experience. I came in with my preconceived beliefs and methods and preferences, and I came out with a very different set of those things,” they said. “I have a lot of respect for artists who are able to come into a work with a specific intent and make that match the impact that people experience after the fact. And I find that I have been able to do that now after my education.”

The artist especially appreciated the opportunity to participate in multiple exhibitions as a student, including an independent BFA exhibition.

“There's a lot of thinking, a lot of writing, a lot of experimenting and a lot of connecting with other people involved in order to pull that off,” they said.

“I've learned a lot that art is not so much just the creation of media. It is also your impact on things. It is your message. It is your story. It is, just in general, how you change the world around you bit by bit, even if small.”

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