ABOUT THE COLLABORATION
Lisa Shepherd and Kristi Bridgeman, Métis artists, met serendipitously through an artist group, where they exchanged stories of family and ancestry. As they pieced together their stories, they began to realize their connection through their common ancestor Suzette Swift. With Suzette watching over them, the artists share their knowledge, explore their culture and create a collaborative body of work
honouring their Grandmothers and Métis ancestral designs.
(more below)
RECENT EXHIBITIONS
Forget-Me-Not, Métis Rose, The Far West. 2019 The ACT Arts Centre, Maple Ridge B.C.
https://www.mapleridgenews.com/entertainment/slideshow-artists-give-talk-at-mtis-art-exhibition-in-maple-ridge/
https://www.mapleridgenews.com/entertainment/slideshow-artists-give-talk-at-mtis-art-exhibition-in-maple-ridge/
Forget-Me-Not, Métis Rose 2018 at Musée Héritage Museum, St. Albert, Alberta https://www.stalberttoday.ca/entertainment-news/metis-family-stories-design-1298344
Forget-Me-Not, Métis Rose 2017 Jasper Region Museum and Archives, Jasper, Alberta
issuu.com/thejasperlocal/docs/the-jasper-local-issue97-may15-2017/8
ABOUT THE COLLABORATION
Continued...
The collaborative body of work FORGET-ME-NOT, METIS ROSE is based on a beadwork design created by Suzette Swift for her granddaughter Eunice (The artists ancestors) The antique pouch was designed with Forget-me-not flowers on one side and the Métis rose on the other, as well as a blue and white zig zag designs. These three components were the seeds that grew into the large collaborative body of work. Suzette’s granddaughter fondly recalled the wildflowers admired by her Grandmother, and these have been meticulously researched and incorporated into the designs. Patterns inspired by our ancestors work, and traditional medicine-wheel colours are often incorporated into the intricately detailed pieces.
"We always want our pieces to be educational, especially for other Métis people who may not have had access to these teachings because of challenges with colonization and oppression. Our artwork typically answers a need for a teaching to be understood, so each piece begins with a lot of conversation around the teaching we want to share. Hours are spent on the phone, discussing the topic from all directions. It might take a week, a month or even a year to form an idea, gather reference materials and just patiently let the teaching guide us. Patience and allowing the natural time for knowledge to present itself is foundational to our culture and ways of knowing. Even the physical gathering of materials takes time; one can’t walk into Walmart and buy a smoke tanned hide but must wait for a successful hunt, locate a traditional tanner and then allow them time to tan the hide. The traditional arts do not happen quickly. When we finally set needle and paintbrush to canvas, we have sat with the idea for a long time and are excited to begin the work of creating our collaboration.
Together, we work in our separate studios; Lisa on the mainland, working on the textiles (beadwork, quillwork, horsehair wrapping and adornments) and Kristi on Vancouver Island, working on the sepia ink, watercolour, and wax resist. The entire time, we snap progress photos and send images back and forth through instant message or text, so that it really does feel like we are working side by side. The work is really circular. Where one of us ends, the other begins so that each component informs the next. When the final pieces come together, they are coherent and often one cannot tell where Kristi’s work ends and Lisa’s work begins. Communication throughout the process is key because we are storytelling with the work.
The final moment is when the textiles are set onto the paper and this part of the story is complete. However, also in circular motion, it always leads to a next piece. Our journey through time continues.”
Kristi Bridgeman and Lisa Shepherd
