Name/Title
NourishEntry/Object ID
2021.12.01Description
Marcy Friesen (b. Nipawin, Saskatchewan) is of Swampy Cree and Welsh ancestry. Friesen comes from a long line of traditional beading masters and creative family members. Driven by a creative impulse, she utilized her talents to start a business, Trapline Creations, designing and creating “useful” clothing and accessories, and jewelery.
More recently, Friesen has begun testing the limits of her craft and started working outside traditional aesthetics and practical designs to create works of art. Her practice still utilizes beads, leathers, and furs, reflecting her interests in how these materials can be given new meaning in contemporary contexts. However, they are created with a new purpose of spreading awareness about mental health, depression, racism, as well as resilience. For Friesen, each work captures intimate relationship, stories, and emotions. For example, the artist’s Help (2020) beaded the word help in boldly in red on a COVID 19 face mask to emphasize the crisis many Indigenous communities faced during the pandemic.
Nourish (2021) symbolically recreates the complex nurturing relationship between mother and child using beaded moccasins. The two are attached by beaded cord roughly the average length of an umbilical cord (50 cm). Friesen depicts the beads flowing from the larger moccasin, through the vibrantly designed connective line, and spilling out into the undesigned child moccasin.
http://www.marcyfriesen.ca/Artwork Details
Medium
beaver hide, leather, rope, sherpa, Pellon, beads, thread, leatherDimensions
Height
7.8 cmWidth
16 cmLength
24 cmHeight
5.5 cmWidth
8 cmLength
14 cmLength
42 cm
