Held in the Hand: Beading and Family History as art practice in the work of Jobena Petonoquot and Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé

Curated by Lori Beavis

This is a virtual exhibition and can be viewed on our website here.

Artspace is pleased to present, Held in the Hand: Beading and Family History as art practice in the work of Jobena Petonoquot and Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé.
 
This web-based exhibition brings together digital images of recent work by artists, Jobena Petonoquot and Teresa Vander Meer Chassé. Jobena Petonoquot is an Algonquin artist from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec. Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé is a member of the White River First Nation of Beaver Creek, Yukon and Alaska.
 
For both of these artists, beading creates an intrinsic relationship with story-telling as it activates wholistic knowing and provides an outlet to collect, understand and convey knowledges in many meaningful and relevant ways within an Indigenous worldview – Algonquin and Upper Tanana, in the case of these two artists.  For each artist, the beads and related materials help express the stories that they need to tell.
 
Petonoquot and Vander Meer Chassé are interested in how actions determine survival for First Nations people. Each artist is creating art that she hopes will start a dialogue that encourages viewers to look further into the history and experiences of Indigenous people in Canada. This work – mostly worked in beading conveys the history of this country as a colonized space and one in which there is an on-going Indigenous presence while at the same time speaks to the importance of passing histories, family stories, knowledge and skills from one generation to another.

Image: Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé Photo Credit: Christopher Walton