Artist Talk: MARIA HUPFIELD

In Pursuit of a Living Library
By Maria Hupfield

This presentation propositions Concordia to consider Indigenous Studio Arts through the approach of a living library where archives, oral tradition/language, place and community building are connected to indigenous experience, object-making, materials and methodology.

Maria Hupfield is a member of Wasauksing First Nation, Ontario, currently based in Brooklyn NY. She received recent national recognition in the USA from the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation for her hand-sewn industrial felt sculptures and a long term Canada Council for the Arts grant to make work in New York. Her nine-foot birchbark canoe made of industrial felt was assembled and performed in Venice, Italy for the premiere of Jiimaan, coinciding with the Venice Biennale. Upcoming projects include #callresponse, a multifaceted performance art based Canada Council for the Arts {Re}Conciliation Initiative Project that presents the work of First Nations, Inuit and Métis women as artists central to the strength and healing of their communities, and Free Play, Trestle Gallery with Jason Lujan. Hupfield is an advocate of native community arts and activism; founder of 7th Generation Image Makers, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, a native youth arts and mural outreach program in downtown Toronto; co-owner of Native Art Department International and Assistant Professor in Visual Art and Material Practice appointed to the Faculty of Culture and Community, Emily Carr University of Arts and Design (2007-11). Hupfield is represented by Galerie Hugues Charbonneau in Montreal.

Related Links:

• Maria Hupfield - artist website
• Department of Studio Arts