No single medium contains her. Sandra Prest-Froher works in a language that moves across canvas, copper, and cloth with equal authority — drawing from ancestral memory, emotional instinct, and a reverence for the land that has shaped every dimension of her practice. To encounter her work is to understand that what she makes cannot be separated from who she is.
As a member of Sqwá First Nation and Stó:ļō Nation, Prest-Froher’s art emerges from a lineage that is not merely referenced but actively embodied. Her paintings — large, gestural abstractions collected across Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America — begin not with a sketch or a plan, but with what she describes as energetic downloads: ancestral messages and felt sensations translated into colour, gesture, and movement. She channels energy through her body, blowing air currents onto acrylic pigments and ink that interlace across the canvas into spiraling, marbled forms. “I hope my viewers feel my work before they see it,” she says — that the movement of the canvas, the weight of hand-pounded copper, and the quiet intelligence of nature-dyed cloth provoke what she calls “a deep, visceral reconnection with all my work.”
Her exhibition history reflects a practice that communities have consistently sought out. From solo shows at Mattick’s Gallery in Victoria to representation by the Tofino Contemporary Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the work has found a sustained and growing audience. The 2022–2023 solo exhibition Energy at Leaf Modern Gallery marked a defining moment — a full articulation of what she calls Energy Art, rooted in transformation and metamorphosis. Her canvases do not depict objects; they document inner weather. “Creating through the lens of my Indigenous heritage,” she reflects, “is a continuous journey of growth — walking the same path as my ancestors while interpreting their way of life in a modern world.”
The jewellery extends the same instinct. Crafted from copper, feathers, bark, and foraged plants, each piece carries the ecological and ancestral intelligence of her larger work. These are not accessories designed to complement an outfit — they are objects of meaning, handmade with the same ritual care that defines everything Prest-Froher creates. Collectors order directly through her or via her website, a fitting arrangement for work this personal.
Her sustainable fashion line, Spirit Essence, completes the circle. Hand-dyeing garments using organic materials gathered from local landscapes, she employs eco-print dyeing techniques that allow plants to leave their imprint directly onto natural fibres — silk, cotton, linen. The process involves foraged materials, rusted iron mordants, and hours of steaming: a labour of ecological commitment as much as artistic vision. The garments that emerge feel both timeless and alive, worn not to follow a trend but to carry a story forward.
Spirit Essence is, at its core, a platform for Indigenous voices and vital advocacy — an act of reclamation woven into every seam. It encompasses work such as the MMIW Red Dress campaign, ensuring that art serves a higher calling of awareness and healing. When Spirit Essence was invited to the Canadian Ambassador’s private residence in Paris, the moment resonated far beyond the room.
“To stand as one of the eight designers from across Turtle Island during Paris Fashion Week was a pinch me moment,” she says, “but bringing our ancestral elegance to New York and France felt like a homecoming on a global stage.” Her community has responded with what she describes as “overwhelming pride and shared celebration” — seeing our stories reflected in sustainability-driven, high-fashion pieces that prove, as she puts it, “that our traditional values on honouring the land are exactly what the modern world needs right now.” Prest-Froher’s aspiration is to ensure the legacy of her Stó:ļō heritage continues to flourish, reaches new audiences, and endures across generations.