Sharp teeth, tough skin

This work was made for Sharp Teeth, curated by Sanaa Humayun and includes artists Raneece Buddan, Rihab Essayh, Emily Riddle (Okimâw Pipikwan Iskwêw), Faith Goodman, Mizin Shin and Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet.

ᐊᐧᔮᐣ | wayân | skin

Materials: smoked deerhide, miyuki and czech seed beads, rhinestones, dyed elk hair, thread

This whimsy contains the word wayân, an incomplete translation of skin, I am still wrapping my beads around learning Nehiyawewin [Cree]. I am learning as I bead into the thick deerhide, trying to follow my relations before me.

Sharp teeth, tough skin (2023)

Materials: smoked deerhide, rabbit fur, elk rawhide, wood, acrylic paint

Resilience is what I was taught, masking is what I did, skin is armour. I choose when to be soft, hard, malleable. The tension between the skins mirrors the tension of balancing the need to be resilient in a colonized world and taking care of myself and relations.

From left to right: To Do List: Hairdresser at 8 am (2023) by Raneece Buddan, Livin’ in ruins of a palace within my dreams (2024) by Rihab Essayh, I make the same mistakes over and over (2023) by Sanaa Humayun.

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