About the Artist
Emma Hassencahl-Perley is Wolastoqwiw from Neqotkuk (where the two rivers flow beneath each other), also known as Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Mount Allison University (‘17) and a Masters of Art in Art History (‘22) from Concordia University.
Emma is a Visual Artist, Curator, Educator, Author, and Arts Criticism Essayist.
Her visual art mediums include beadwork, murals, and digital illustration. Her work explores the term “Legislative Identity” (how the Indian Act impacts the identities of Indigenous peoples in Canada). Through material and visual culture, Emma also considers her identity in her work as an ehpit (woman) and citizen of the Wabanaki (People of the Dawn) Confederacy. Her visual art practice takes inspiration from Wabanaki double-curve beadwork and iconography typically found on 19th-century textiles and objects.
These mirrored, curvilinar forms speak about relationships, community life, and being in balance with the universe.
Emma’s research interests lie within Indigenous Art History, Indigenous Feminisms, Craft and Textile History, Wabanaki Iconography, Oral History, and Decolonial theory.