Vanessa Dion Fletcher is an emerging artist working in Toronto. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Certificate in Indigenous Studies. Dion Fletcher is a multidisciplinary artist who often focuses on printmaking and performance. In her most resent work she explores themes of communication, Identity and the Body. Her explorations into concepts of language and identity have lead to the notion of the “failure to communicate”. Being a unilingual English speaker with Potawatomi and Lenape ancestry has caused her to consider ideas of fluency and understanding. Having no direct access to her ancestral Aboriginal language has caused her to explore the notion of communication without words. How does one’s identity affect how they speak, listen and are heard? Why does communication fail and what are the consequences when it does? These are questions that she has explored. Dion Fletcher has participated in several residency programs including Don Blanch 2010 in Shelburne Ontario and Towards Language at the Banff Centre Alberta. In addition to her own art Vanessa works with the T.D.S.B Aboriginal Artist collective on community arts projects and curated the exhibition Ancestral Teachings: Contemporary Perspectives.