Judy Chartrand (born 1959) is a

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

artist from

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. She is an artist who grew up in the

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homeles ...

neighbourhood of

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Her works frequently confronts issues of

postcolonialism Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...

Indigenous feminism Indigenous feminism is an intersectional theory and practice of feminism that focuses on decolonization, indigenous sovereignty, and human rights for Indigenous women and their families. The focus is to empower Indigenous women in the context o ...

, socio-economic inequity and Indigenous knowledge expressed through the mediums of

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

, found objects, archival photography and traditional Indigenous techniques of

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary b ...

, moose hair tufting and

quillwork Quillwork is a form of textile embellishment traditionally practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America that employs the quills of porcupines as an aesthetic element. Quills from bird feathers were also occasionally used in quillwork. Histor ...

Life and work

Chartrand is a self-taught ceramicist, she was initially inspired by the

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

San Ildefonso potter,

Maria Martinez Maria Montoya Martinez (1887, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980, San Ildefonso Pueblo) was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. Martinez (born Maria Poveka Montoya), her husband Julian, and ot ...

whose instructional videos she initially learned from. She was in her formative years influenced by trips to visit the Vancouver Museum located at the

Carnegie Community Centre Carnegie Community Centre is located at 401 Main Street at the corner of Hastings Street, in the old Carnegie Public Library building in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1901 Vancouver requested $50,000 from industrialist ...

in downtown Vancouver where she developed an awareness of design and painting of ceramics. And early motif utilized in her work was referencing Mimbres bowl forms and surface decoration, which is a design language she has referenced back to frequently in her work from renditions of historical Mimbres pots, to public art installation like the one done for the Olivia Skye Public Housing Building which featured illustrations of women in the style of Mimbres surface decoration. Her series "If This is What You Call, ‘Being Civilized’, I'd rather go back to Being a ‘Savage’" is an evolution of the Mimbres pots, keeping the same bowl form but adding more personalized surface decoration from the artist. It currently exists in the private collection of contemporary art collector Bob Rennie and the permanent collection of the Surrey Art Gallery. Works have also been collected by:

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was established as a private non-profi ...

, Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Smithsonian

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. Her work has been included in anthologies on arts and crafts including, Utopic Impulses: Contemporary Ceramics Practice.

Education

Chartrand studied for her Diploma in the Fine Arts Program at

Langara College , mottoeng = Knowledge is Freedom , established = April 1, 1994 , type = Public , endowment = C$5.8 million , administrative_staff = , faculty = , president = Paula Burns , students = 22,000 , city = Vancouver, British Columbia , coun ...

before being accepted to the

Emily Carr University of Art and Design Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

where she graduated with her BFA in 1998. She continued on to finish her master's degree in Fine Arts in Ceramics at the University of Regina (2003).

Exhibitions

* Playing With Fire, Vancouver, BC: Museum of Anthropology, 2019 * the poets have always preceded, North Vancouver, BC: Griffin Art Projects, 2019 * Bad Stitch: Audie Murray, Judy Chartrand, and

Jeneen Frei Njootli Jeneen Frei Njootli is an interdisciplinary Vuntut Gwitchin artist known primarily for their work with sound and textiles, performance, fashion, workshops, and barbeques. Work Njootli is a co-creator of the ReMatriate Collective, a group wor ...

Vancouver, BC: Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, 2018 * What a Wonderful World, Vancouver, BC: Bill Reid Gallery 2016-17 * Métis Soup, Vancouver, BC: Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, 2016 * Judy Chartrand 1999–2013, Saskatoon, SK: AKA Artist Run, 2013 * Malaysia-Canada Indigenous Communities Applied Arts Exhibition, Vancouver, BC: Pendulum Gallery, 2012 * Lost & Found: Haruko Okano, Judy Chartrand, and

Wayde Compton Wayde Compton (born 1972) is a Canadian writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Compton has published books of poetry, essays, and fiction, and he edited the first comprehensive anthology of black writing from British Columbia. He co ...

Vancouver, BC: Access Gallery, 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chartrand, Judy 1959 births Living people Cree people Canadian women activists Canadian ceramists Women potters Canadian women ceramists