Broken & Beautiful
No Longer Available
Completed
2024
Medium
Hand-processed Black Ash Splint & Braided Sweetgrass
Dimensions
8" x 9" x 9"
Description
Akwesasne is known as the Haudenosaunee community with the strongest continuous tradition of basket making. Basketmaking is a cultural process; a way of learning about the cycles of nature and the right way to live in balance with the land by the careful gathering of materials. In Haudenosaunee Woven - Still Here, the feathers of each of the lids is fashioned to relate to the kastowa (headdress) of each of the nations – Seneca, Tuscarora, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The gradual increase in purple color on the bottom half is meant to show that they were the original people, changing as they were increasingly touched by colonialism, modernism, technology, and other religions. They have always been here, and they are Still Here. A work of self-reflection, Broken but Beautiful was woven with splint ash and sweetgrass around the form of a pot that was then broken and removed. Sweetgrass has medicinal uses, and the brightest part of the splint ash used is featured on the inside of the vessel, underscoring the importance of inner beauty and self-preservation. The form relates both to a pot which holds things for us as well as the body which holds babies and is also subject to change over time. Despite inevitable change, we can still move forward and with a new purpose.
About this Artist
Carrie Hill
Carrie Hill is a Haudenosaunee woman from Akwesasne Mohawk Territory and owner of Chill Baskets. In 2014, Carrie left her position at the Mohawk School in Hogansburg, New York to pursue basket making full time. The tradition of weaving Black Ash Splints and Sweetgrass goes back to many generations of Carrie’s family and her first teacher was her aunt. Weaving felt natural to Carrie, and she fell in love with the entire process – she was soon creating her own unique pieces. Her work has been sent all over the world including an entire collection representing the Haudenosaunee People for the U.S. Embassy in Swaziland, Africa. Carrie is a teacher of Haudenosaunee Fancy Basketry to pre-kindergarten aged children all the way to Totas (Grandparents). Carrie finds honor and pleasure in doing so both in educational environments and community gatherings. She is very proud to pass along this ancient tradition to…
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