Tiffany Shaw-Collinge transcends generations using her great-grandmother's moccasin patterns
Conor McNally | CBC Arts | Posted: March 19, 2018 8:00 PM | Last Updated: March 19, 2018
This Métis artist uses historical family designs to inspire contemporary work
What do you think of when it comes to traditional Métis art? Perhaps beadwork, sewing and embroidery come to mind. But what would that look like combined with modern laser-cutting and 3D modelling?
Tiffany Shaw-Collinge is reworking these traditional art forms with new technology at the Insurgence/Resurgence exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Her piece for the show, which you can see in the video below, includes six miniature cabins made with a variety of materials that outline her Métis heritage. Two cabins that were specially commissioned for the exhibit utilize her great-grandmother's floral moccasin beading pattern.
Watch the video:
"I'm just thinking about where Indigenous people are going, what kind of materials are they using today as opposed to when leather was being used with my great-grandmother as a moccasin maker," says Shaw-Collinge.
Shaw-Collinge explains in the video that she feels permission to move these ancestral designs forward because they come from her family. She experiments with water jet cutting, plasma cutting and materials like mirror mylar to represent traditional Indigenous culture in today's era.
"Our culture is not stagnant — it's thriving," she says.
You can check out Tiffany Shaw-Collinge's cabins at the Insurgence/Resurgence exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery until April 22, 2018.
This series of Insurgence/Resurgence artist profiles is a collaboration between CBC Arts and CBC Indigenous. Check out other videos here.