Marcy Friesen

Exquisite beaded clothing becomes bewitching soft sculpture laden with personal narrative.

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Artist Marcy Friesen, of mixed Swampy Cree and Welsh ancestry, works a farm near the splendidly named Carrot River, three hours northeast of Saskatoon. Carrot River’s postal code gives Friesen’s magnificent new solo show at Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver its title, S0E 0L0.

Friesen comes from a line of traditional beaders and has established a successful business creating “useful” and beautifully crafted clothing, including mitts, mukluks, hunting hats and moccasins. But recently, after visiting the Remai Modern, she became interested in creating art or, as she first thought, “useless” things.

“My husband and I packed up our two daughters and a friend and headed to the city,” she says. “It was a free entry into the Remai Modern in Saskatoon. I had been selling jewelry in the Remai store that I hadn't seen displayed yet. This was huge for me. I had friends and family members sending me photos of the display, so I needed to go see this in person. We toured through the gallery and saw some amazing pieces of art. I didn’t understand a lot of it. I remember saying to my family as we left the gallery that art is so useless. But we talked about it the whole way home. I was so intrigued and felt such a strong pull to create something.”

Now, Friesen uses her beads, leather and furs to create stunning artworks that feel timeless and very much at home in the rarefied, flat-white environs of a contemporary art gallery. They seem to have the power to transform the space, to welcome new audiences that can find ways to appreciate these newly abstract, yet familiar, forms as a means of addressing trauma and celebrating the creative act.

All of this coincided with the unfolding pandemic, which sent Friesen down another path. “I was caught up on all my orders of moccasins, hats and gauntlets so I took this time to create art. I received a micro-grant from Saskatchewan Arts for a depression moccasin and I was invited to create traditionally made masks showing resilience through the global pandemic.”

The pieces on display at Fazakas often tell intimate personal stories, sometimes involving mental health issues. Far from ‘useless,’ they act as beacons for communication, objects around which rich conversations can coalesce. And it’s easy to be drawn to any of them. 

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Marcy Friesen, “Summer Blossom,” 2020

Marcy Friesen, “Summer Blossom,” 2020

skunk pelt, leather, beads, sherpa, leather thread and bead thread, 13.5″ x 6″ x 7.5″ (courtesy Fazakas Gallery, Vancouver)

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Marcy Friesen, “Hush Little Baby,” 2021

Marcy Friesen, “Hush Little Baby,” 2021

rabbit, moose hide, cow hide, seed beads, pellon, leather thread and bead thread, 2″ x 3″ x 7.5″ (courtesy Fazakas Gallery, Vancouver)

Both Summer Blossom, a floral beaded fur mitten, and Hush Little Baby, a beaded moccasin with a blue heart and an interior stuffed with pink rubber objects, are one-offs of items normally created in pairs. Both are missing an expected half, yet stand alone, resplendent with new purpose.

“When I began making art I thought, how can I make something useless," says Friesen. "Well, I could bead the inside of moccasins. Yes. That would make them ‘useless’ because you couldn’t wear them. So I prayed and thought and prayed some more. Well, it wasn’t enough to just bead the inside. Maybe, I will just make one! I am the type of person that is focused, and everything I do has a purpose. I don’t make something just to make something.”

Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge we are well past uselessness here. All of these pieces are striking in their formal beauty and originality. They are full of heart and invite questions.

“I push myself constantly to use my beads, fur and leather in different ways," she says. "Ways I haven’t seen before, and in purposeful ways, to spread awareness about mental health, depression and racism. I'm finding my voice comes through stronger through my art.”

The showcase piece, The Hunting Hat, evocative of a gladiatorial helmet reimagined by American artist Matthew Barney, has a particular family connection and an all-too familiar and upsetting resonance given recent news reports confirming Canada’s ongoing failures in facing the legacy of residential schools.

“It’s an orange rabbit fur RCMP-style hat," says Friesen. "My grandpa was a trapper and this hat was made in memory for him. I needed to hang beads out of it, to use my beads in a non-traditional way. He had grandchildren attend residential school. I don’t know much more, or how many of my cousins attended. It hasn’t been talked about. I am learning.” 

There is no turning back for this newly minted artist, a maker of newly useful ‘useless’ things. “I get asked all the time if I make certain traditional pieces, including moss bags, baby bonnets and cradle boards,” she says. “Once, when I said ‘no, I don’t make those,’ I got a funny look and was then asked what I make. This angered me. It made me want to not make what was traditionally expected of a native woman. I don’t need to make what is expected. I can’t. I need to do more. I have to tell my story.” ■  

Marcy Friesen: S0E 0L0 at the Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver from June 12 to Aug. 21, 2021. 

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