Julia Marden (born 1962) is an American artist based in Vermont. A member of the
Aquinnah Wampanoag
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) ( wam, Âhqunah Wôpanâak) is a federally recognized tribe of Wampanoag people based in the town of Aquinnah on the southwest tip of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.wampum belts, and painting.
Early life and education
Marden was born in 1962 and raised in
Falmouth, Massachusetts
Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...
, and also spent parts of her childhood in Vineyard Haven on
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
. Her father was a carpenter, and as a child she would use his wood shavings to make her own art. She also made collages from found objects.
Art career
Marden began learning customary crafts in the early 1990s, from Native American staff, when she began working in the Wampanoag Indian Program at Plimoth Plantation. Specifically, Marden learned twining, a type of weaving technique which involves wrapping fibers around one another without using a loom. She had created 63 twined pieces by 2012. It takes Marden about two months of 40-hour weeks to twine a bag with commercial cordage. For more historic twining, which takes longer, Marden uses cattails, bulrushes, and cornhusks, among other plants. Porcupine quills or moose hair may also be worked into the designs.
Marden has also created miniature dolls, which she calls Eninuog, which represent Native people and the clothing they wore at the time of European contact.
Marden has her own studio and store in
Ryegate, Vermont
Ryegate is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,165 at the 2020 census. The town contains the villages of South Ryegate, East Ryegate, and Ryegate Corner.
History
One of the New Hampshire Grants, it was cha ...
, named Bluejay Visions. She has shown her work at the Atrium Gallery in One Capitol Hill, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, the
National Heritage Museum
The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, formerly known as the National Heritage Museum and the Museum of Our National Heritage, is a museum located in Lexington, Massachusetts. Its emphasis is on American history and Freemasonry, and it conta ...
, the Rhode Island Department of Administration, the Robbins Museum, and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts.
In 2022, Marden was one of eight Wampanoag artists profiled in Lee Roscoe's book, ''Wampanoag Art for the Ages: Traditional and Transitional''.
In 2023, Marden created a turkey feather
mantle
A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that.
Mantle may refer to:
*Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear
**Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...
she had twined by hand, making it the first-known such mantle created post-European contact 400 years earlier. Marden called it "most likely the most important piece" she will ever make. It will be shown at the Aquinnah Cultural Center in 2024.
Personal life
Marden has one daughter, Leah Llanes, who learned to twine at age 6; Llanes' daughter has also learned to twine.
Marden was given the name Bluejay Weaving in a Wampanoag naming ceremony, in honor of her craftsmanship and the fierceness with which blue jays protect their young.
Marden has resided in Vermont since at least 2015, but has also previously lived in Connecticut.