Exploration

Exploration 2023, features hand-harvested, stripped, and then dyed black ash wood splints, delicately braided sweetgrass at the girth, and a striking palette of contrasting green, blue, and naturally colored wood to accentuate an elongated and rhythmic pattern into a classical vase-like shape.
Jeremy Frey is a seventh-generation basketmaker and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township. Frey honors intergenerational weaving practices learned from his mother and Wabanaki community members who are part of the Maine Indian Basket Makers Alliance.
The Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot Nations are collectively known as Wabanaki or "People of the Dawnland." Wabanaki ancestral homelands stretch across Maine where they have thrived among the waters and woodlands for centuries.
Using locally harvested wood and grass, Frey combines refined weaving skills and a distinct palette into elegant forms that foreground the intricacies of his works. His innovative approach has garnered international recognition and awards. His work is held in numerous museum and private collections.
Exploration 2023, exemplifies Frey’s highly-individualized reinterpretations of "woodlands style" basketmaking techniques which merge Wabanaki Indigenous weaving methods with the symmetrical forms of classical European ceramics. Combining a distinct palette with exceptionally detailed weaving, Frey draws upon the intergenerational basketmaking practices of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Native communities and artists from whom he learned, thereby translating northeastern aesthetic Indigenous traditions into contemporary interpretations. Exploration 2023, features hand-harvested, cleaned, stripped and then dyed black ash wood strips or splints, delicately braided sweetgrass at the girth, and a striking palette of contrasting green, blue, and naturally colored wood to accentuate an elongated and rhythmic vessel.