Day 81 - Margaret
Today kicks off a week long series of exploring Indigenous art. Once of my favourite parts of this challenge is to have the opportunity to study artists in such an intimate way, to really get to know them and their work as I create my own digital pieces inspired by their style. And, so far, this week has been especially inspiring. I don’t know nearly enough about Indigenous art and culture, or about Native North American history as a whole. This week is a small step in my education as I look to five incredible artists across a variety of mediums to learn about them and their work.
I’m starting my journey with the intricate beadwork of Margaret Nazon. Margaret is Tsiigehtchic and part of the Gwich’in community, in what is now the Northwest Territories of Canada. She initially started beading at age 10, but found the density of traditional beadwork to be tedious and has developed her own more modern approach later in life. Margaret’s spent the last decade creating these stunning beadwork depictions of outer space, balancing representational and stylized aesthetics to recreate scenes captured by the Hubble telescope. The abstract nature of these celestial images allows Margaret to be more interpretive and incorporate different materials into her work, such as caribou bones and willow seeds, that have local or cultural significance.
With my sketch today I tried to capture the swirling colours of Margaret’s beadwork. I built in controls to allow for multiple nebulas, but the drawings get a little busy. I much prefer the movement created with one focused radiating point.
As part of my series this week I’m also going to be showcasing various Indigenous organizations and, since you’re here, I encourage you to learn more about them and consider donating should you have the means to do so. Today I want to highlight the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), a national organization representing the political voice of Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people in Canada, inclusive of First Nations on and off reserve, status and non-status, disenfranchised, Métis and Inuit. An aggregate of Indigenous women’s organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of Indigenous women within their respective communities and Canada societies. NWAC works on a variety of issues such as employment, labour and business, health, violence prevention and safety, justice and human rights, environment, early learning childcare and international affairs. You can donate to NWAC here.
