Nunavut artist weaves two cultures into work during WAG residency
The most recent month-long residencies at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq wrapped up this month, with one participant describing the experience as a rare opportunity to devote herself to her work while exploring new artistic techniques.
“I really enjoyed that time and space just to be able to focus on the project that I had come in with in mind,” Becky Mearns said in a phone interview.
During her time in Winnipeg, the Iqaluit-based artist worked on an embroidery project connecting Inuit storytelling with Scottish folklore, traditions in which seals feature prominently. The work draws on her background growing up in the Nunavut community of Pangnirtung as well as in Scotland.
“I thought about representing both of my cultures and the connectedness between those stories,” she said. “Those two pieces represent who I am.”
Mearns said creativity has long been part of her life.
“I’ve always sewn and knitted and crafted and I really love hands-on creative projects,” she said. “Over the past few years I’ve progressed into other [forms] like embroidery and painting.”
Mearns said her attraction to embroidery as a medium was influenced by her childhood growing up in Pangnirtung where she was exposed to the community’s tapestry and weaving tradition. She spent time working at the Uqqurmiut Arts and Crafts Centre there where she saw artists working first-hand.
“That inspiration of art from the community that I come from has been really huge,” she said.
This year’s residency marked the third time Nunavut artists have been brought to Winnipeg to develop their work. Participants are selected by staff at the Government of Nunavut and WAG-Qaumajuq.
Mearns was joined in this year by Joshua Qaumariaq of Iqaluit and Leo Karetak of Rankin Inlet.
Back in Iqaluit, Mearns says she plans to continue working in embroidery while expanding into other mediums such as needle felting and the block printing she was exposed to during the residency.
She said she would encourage other artists thinking about the residency to apply.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” she said. “It was time to focus on our art, but also to explore other forms of art as well, which was really fun.”
Comments, tips or story ideas? Contact Eilís at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Feds announce $14.3M for arts and culture in the Yukon, CBC News
Finland: Sami joik, symphonic music fusion from Finland makes int’l debut in Ottawa, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Sami-led project seeks to revitalize Indigenous education across Europe, Eye on the Arctic
Sweden: Award-winning novel set in Sapmi to get Netflix treatment, Eye on the Arctic
United States: How Inuit culture helped unlock power of classical score for Inupiaq violinist, Eye on the Arctic
