Two beading exhibitions to feature Anishinaabe artists

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY— Beausoleil artist and curator Lisa Myers recently guest curated one of two beading exhibitions currently running from Sept. 27-Nov. 10 at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Myers curated the “Beads, they’re sewn so tight” exhibition, which features more than 40 pieces of work by Olivia Whetung, a Curve Lake citizen, Jean Marshall, Katie Longboat and Bev Koski.

“All of their art practices involve beadwork, so I think of them as not only incorporating beads into their work but that their work is all about beads, it’s all about beading,” Myers says before the Sept. 27 opening reception for the two exhibitions. “Each of them have very different approaches to the way they use beads, even in the techniques they use.”

Myers says Whetung’s work includes loom beading, Koski’s work includes off-loom bead weaving, Marshall’s work includes embroidery beading and quill work and Longboat’s work includes embroidery beading.

“I really loved working with all four artists,” Myers says. “All of them at some point have been like a beading teacher to me. So I know them in a way that is not just a curator-artist relationship, it’s about sitting around a table and beading and learning and talking and sharing stories and getting to know each other.”

Myers says the exhibition was originally shown at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto.

“Different parts of the work raise different issues, like for example #35, which is one of Olivia Whetung’s works, references her home community,” Myers says, noting the work features a small beaded piece on the floor. “When she is presenting that little outline of that small territory, we of course can’t forget that Mississauga’s territory was huge and all the displacement that happened with the expansion of the Trent-Severn waterway.”

Marshall also curated the “Their Breath in Beads” exhibition, which includes the work of Caitlyn Bird, Dawn Driver, Doug Turner, Helen Pelletier, Cher Chapman, Reena Larabee, Mary Magiskan, Sheila Demerah, Melissa Twance and Justine Gustafson.

“This was an opportunity to introduce a lot of these emerging artists to a different way for them to view their work because I see their work as really strong and life changing,” Marshall says. “I’ve seen how their beadwork has changed other people’s lives. They’re creating change around them and they do it in really humble ways.”

Twance, a Pic Mobert citizen, created a piece called The Aftermath of Storms.

“When I was making it, I was thinking about our belief systems as Anishinaabe people, what a Thunderbird means and what it represents and what it actually does for our world,” Twance says. “And I wanted to represent that in beads, so you can see the piece goes from this sort of dark colour to a lighter colour that represents the healing energy that Thunderbirds bring to our people.”

Demerah, a Fort William citizen, created a piece with five pairs of moccasins called Midsummer Flowers.

“It’s the moccasins with the quill work,” Demerah says. “I started using quills a couple of years ago. This summer I worked on these five pair [of moccasins] and then decided to use wolf fur.”

Doug Turner, from Thunder Bay, created a pipe bag called The Legends.

“Just like any piece, it tells its own story,” Turner says, noting he is a men’s traditional dancer. “I could see all these dancers around me as a youth and you could see all of their beautiful beadwork, and it always inspired me to start creating my own.”