Name/Title
Pouch for Holding ThunderEntry/Object ID
2026.24.01Description
Maria Hupfield (b.1975) defines herself as an Urban off-reservation multidisciplinary Ojibwe artist. Based in Toronto, she was born in Parry Sound, Ontario and is a member of the Wasauksing First Nation.
Hupfield works in a variety of mediums, primarily video and performance art. Her practice embodies feminist performance, Native feminism, and Indigenous creative and oral traditions. She is known for making elaborate mixed media creations/objects out of repurposed everyday materials and activating the works with her own body during her performances.
The artist has an undeniable talent for storytelling, luring us into a visually stunning world of mischief, play, and critique to make space for indigenous histories and bodies and creating dialogue about decolonization, reclamation, indigenous identity, and accountability.
Pouch for Holding Thunder is a sculptural and performative work that reflects the artist’s ongoing practice of bringing objects to life through sound, movement, and participation. Consisting of an industrial felt pouch, the piece carries something that is ordinarily intangible, powerful, and impossible to hold. "Thunder" is metaphor for sound, song, voice, memory, ancestral knowledge, and spiritual power. The pouch becomes a vessel that metaphorically holds these forces, suggesting that cultural knowledge and stories can be carried from one generation to the next.Artwork Details
Medium
Industrial felt, polyester fill, tin jinglesDimensions
Height
60 cmWidth
15 cmDepth
7 cm