Michelle Sylvestre (she/her) BFA (Art, 2017), MFA (New Media, 2021), is an interdisciplinary artist and PhD student in the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought program at the University of Lethbridge, situated on Treaty 7 Territory in Alberta. Her MFA awards include SSHRC, Queen Elizabeth II Graduate, and Dean’s Tuition Scholarships for research excellence.
Her doctoral research investigates systemic gender and Indigenous biases in artificial intelligence (AI). Michelle uses research-creation to combine critical inquiry with artistic practice to address complex sociocultural issues, to promote equity and inclusion in technological development.
Michelle co-led the multidisciplinary conference and workshop ‘AI: Worlding and Wilding,’ guiding graduate and undergraduate students in research-creation. This initiative fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and critical engagement, influencing participants’ academic and creative work. She will begin a new iteration of these workshops for her PhD research-creation work and as a member of the University of Lethbridge Abundance Intelligence Niitsitapi Pod.
As an exhibition and public art artist, Michelle explores themes of identity and community through technology, sculpture, and performance. She views this scholarship as a transformative opportunity to connect with changemakers, advance her interdisciplinary research, and contribute to addressing pressing global challenges, particularly in collaboratively building more inclusive AI frameworks.
Soundscape & FLUX: Notes from the Niitsitapi Pod
2026
With an introduction by Leory Little Bear and Amethyst First Rider, the Indigenous-led Niitsitapi Pod artists and scholars write about their utility of artificial intelligence (AI) for Indigenous communities. The notion of abundant intelligence is offered as a counter to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence defines technologies which are often unsustainable, extractive, and inequitable, systems based on non-Indigenous frameworks, biased toward the benefit and access of non-Indigenous people and entities. The ongoing work of the Abundant Intelligence network seeks to acknowledge the multitudes of ancient and active Indigenous knowledge systems and technologies that for millennia have been used in pattern recognition, archive retrieval, and mediation of sentience.
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Alberta Foundation for the Arts Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Funding
2026
This funding supports Kara Sloan and Michelle Sylvestre's art practice and artist residencies for their upcoming exhibition "Tangible Fragments" Sept. 2026. This exhibition explores the complex, often ambiguous nature of care, connection, and memory through the juxtaposition of two primary materials: ceramic and felted wool. These materials symbolize the duality of familiarity and fragility, strength and softness, creating a sensory dialogue between permanence and impermanence. Their work delves into the embodied experience of care and connection. Using abstract, indefinite forms they focus more on the intimate, messy and imperfect aspects of these experiences apart from the often flattening idealistic moralities commonly attached to them.
University of Lethbridge Graduate Research Award (ULGRA)
2024-2028
The candidate has demonstrated outstanding research ability/potential by providing contributions to the field. The candidate has demonstrated excellent leadership skills, for example through substantial and sustained contributions to mentorship of students, active role in academic life, or outreach.
Medalta Artist in Residency
July 2026
In this month long residency, Michelle will be focusing on her ceramic sculptures for her exhibition "Tangible Fragments"
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Visual Art Live Performance: A.I.P.I. Following the Breadcrumbs
January 2026
A.I.P.I.: Following the Breadcrumbs is a live visual art performance by Michelle Sylvestre. Grounded in a methodology of relationality, the performance brings together narrative, humour, and audience participation to explore relationships between artificial intelligence, water, knowledge, and accountability as A.I.P.I. (Artificial Intelligence Private Investigator). Set within the milieu of film noir, the work unfolds as an open-ended investigation, inviting audiences to follow the breadcrumbs to consider how meaning and responsibility are produced through systems of relation.
Artist Talk
December 2025
Art NOW series featuring Amethyst First Rider and Michelle Sylvestre
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Exhibition: Abundant Memory, Relational Intelligence
October 17, 2025 – January 23, 2026
Dr. Margaret (Marmie) Perkins Hess Gallery Abundant Memory, Relational Intelligence features the creative outcomes of two years of interdisciplinary experimentation as part of the Abundant Intelligences research program. Artists share their artwork including virtual environments, quillwork, performance art, game design, painting, sound works, architectural design, and interactive technologies. The exhibition features artwork from Serene Weasel Traveller’s recently completed MFA.
The Niitsitapi Pod artists work collaboratively with Elders, students, mentors, faculty, and community members, centering collective research practices and relational processes over individualistic modes of project design. Through this approach, projects are shaped by the relational experiences and community dialogue which surround their making. Led by Amethyst First Rider and Leroy Little Bear, the Niitsitapi Pod is one of five research pods which make up Abundant Intelligences, an Indigenous-led research program that conceptualizes, designs, develops, and deploys AI based on Indigenous Knowledge systems. Through creative innovations with virtual materials, knowledge systems, and emergent technologies, Abundant Memory, Relational Intelligence honours the generational intelligence that exist within Niitsitapi culture and language.
This exhibition draws upon research supported by the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Artists:
Serene Weasel Traveller
Amethyst First Rider
Nayan Velaskar
Michelle Sylvestre
Blair Many Fingers
Walker English
Darby Herman
Kaiya Healy
Payne Many Guns
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