Radiance
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, and 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.
Radiance is a premiere example of 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 fine 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 fresh shapes. Radiance features hand-harvested, cleaned, stripped, and then dyed black ash wood splints, cedar bark, and a striking palette of turquoise blue, red, and naturally colored wood to create a sinuous traditional pyriform using a porcupine stitch technique.
The Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and 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.
Radiance is a premiere example of 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 fine 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 fresh shapes. Radiance features hand-harvested, cleaned, stripped, and then dyed black ash wood splints, cedar bark, and a striking palette of turquoise blue, red, and naturally colored wood to create a sinuous traditional pyriform using a porcupine stitch technique.
Artwork Details
- Title: Radiance
- Artist: Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy, born 1978)
- Date: 2024
- Medium: Black Ash, sweetgrass, synthetic dye
- Dimensions: Overall: 23 3/4 in. h × 12 in. diam (60.3 × 30.5 cm)
Body of the vessel: 19 3/4 in. h × 12 in. diam (50.2 × 30.5 cm)
Lid of the vessel: 4 1/2 in. h × 8 3/4 in. diam (11.4 × 22.2 cm) - Credit Line: Purchase, Valerie and Charles Diker Fund, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.201a, b
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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