Aylan Couchie (She/Her) is a Nishnaabekwe interdisciplinary artist, curator and writer hailing from Nipissing First Nation. She is a NSCAD University alumna achieving a BFA in sculpture and installation. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design at OCAD University where she focused her thesis on reconciliation and its relationship to monument and public art. She’s currently in her third year of study at Queen’s University where she’s working on her PhD in the Cultural Studies program researching areas of land+language+Indigenous placemaking through mapping, naming and public art. Her research-based practice explores the intersections of colonial/First Nations histories of place, culture and Indigenous erasure as well as issues of (mis)representation and cultural appropriation. She’s been the recipient of several awards including an “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture” award through the International Sculpture Centre and a Premier’s Award through Ontario Colleges. Most recently, she was chosen by Queen’s University as their nominee for the 2023 SSHRC Talent Award. She served as Chair of Native Women in the Arts until 2020 and lives and works from her home community of Nipissing First Nation in Northern Ontario and and Tkarón:to.