February 17, 2017
IAIA Artist-in-Residence Meghann O’Brien (Haida-Kwakwaka’wakw, Irish) spent time exploring the Coe Center’s extensive collection of global indigenous arts to find points of connection and inspiration for her own artistic practice. Working hands-on with this encyclopedic collection, O’Brien selected work from the Coe collection to share in dialogue with her own artwork. For this public event O’Brien presented her own practice and creative sources, and engaged the audience in considering the nature of creative acts and traditional process. For those interested in weaving, textiles, emerging artists, and the arts of the Northwest Coast this was an incredible opportunity to learn directly from the artist about her own work.
Meghann O’Brien (b. 1982) is a Northwest Coast weaver, whose innovative approach to the traditional artforms of basketry, Yeil Koowu (Raven’s Tail) and Naaxiin (Chilkat) textiles connects the artist to the rhythms and patterns of natural world, creating a continuity between herself and her ancestors. O’Brien, who left the world of professional snowboarding to work full-time as a weaver in 2010, employs traditional materials such as hand-spun mountain goat wool and cedar.
The IAIA Artist-in-Residence Program provides opportunities for Native and First Nations artists from the selected regions to come to the Institute of American Indian Arts campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a month of art-making and interaction with IAIA students, staff/faculty, and the Santa Fe arts community. Applicants whose work engages with cultural traditions through materials, techniques and/or subject matter are particularly encouraged to apply. The Coe Center is honored to a partner with IAIA and the IAIA Artist-in-Residence Program.