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Land is Life

Artist(s)

Oasis Skateboard Factory (OSF) x Mo Thunder x DesignTO

Date

January 2021 — February 2021

Land is Life is a collaboration between the Oasis Skateboard Factory (OSF) and Mo Thunder. The Oasis Skateboard Factory is an alternative TDSB high school program where students earn high school credits by building and selling skateboards and running a small design business.

Mo Thunder (ukwe x they/them) is a neurodiverse Onyota'a:ka x French art-maker x visual storyteller who is currently based on Dish with One Spoon Territory (Tkaronto). They grew up on Anishinaabe aki, down river from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, they have family there as well. Through their art practice (sewing, beading, painting murals, journaling), they aim to express and share stories about intergenerational healing, neurodiversity, identity, empowerment, and truth.

Living in an urban environment it can be easy to overlook the natural world and the processes of growth and decay that constantly surround us. Even skateboards come from the earth through the harvesting of wood, and return to our ecosystem when they eventually decay. The process of beading takes patience, focus and an acceptance of imperfection. Each bead is an intentional action, just like every molecule is precisely designed to give structure to our world.

Responding to the prompts “What gives you life?,” OSF and Mo designed a series of hand-made beaded skateboards inspired by our relationships with nature. Combining photo transfer and beads, each board reveals the inner-spirit of the world around us. 

A collection of five vertical skateboards displayed on a wall. Each skateboard is uniquely decorated: one with a tree and octagonal patterns, one with a plant design, one with a blue river scene, one with an abstract tree, and one with red flowers. Blue beads connect the boards.
A skateboard deck decorated with autumn leaves and an antler design, painted in vibrant orange, brown, and green. The antlers are prominently featured, with green outlines around them. The deck is displayed vertically on a white wall.
A skateboard deck with an abstract design featuring black, white, and blue colors, giving it a distressed, grungy appearance. The design appears to have scratch-like and paint-splatter elements across the entire deck.
A skateboard deck with a mixed media design featuring golden honeycomb patterns at the bottom, a green plant in the middle, and a partial yellow sun dripping paint at the top against a monochrome background. A string of blue and purple beads hangs on the side.
A vertical, painted skateboard deck mounted on a white wall, featuring a blue and green abstract design mimicking a topographic map. Surrounding the skateboard is a symmetrical arrangement of blue and purple beads extending outward like rays.

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