Primrose Adams (1926 – January 2020) was a Canadian

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

artist and member of the Raven Clan from the

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

nation. She wove hats and baskets in the Haida method and is most notable for her spruce root basketry, which involves working in the traditional manner of collecting and dyeing her own spruce root. Adams died in January 2020.

Personal life and family

As the granddaughter of celebrated Haida artists

Charles Edenshaw Charles Edenshaw (–1920) was a Haida artist"Master Artists: Charles Edenshaw ...

(1839–1920) and Isabella Edenshaw (1842–1926) and the daughter of Haida artists

Florence Davidson Florence Edenshaw Davidson (1896–1993) was a Canadian First Nations artist from the Haida. She created basketry and button-blankets and was a respected elder in her village of Masset, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. Early life Florence Edensh ...

and Robert Davidson, Adams comes from a family of distinguished Haida artists. After marrying her husband, Victor, Adams learned the art of basket-weaving from her mother-in-law, Haida artist Selina Peratrovich (1890–1984), starting in 1977. Adams' daughter, Isabel Rorick (born 1955) is also an acclaimed weaver, carrying on a family tradition now spanning five generations.

Career and achievements

Adams' work resides in several public collections, including the Field Museum in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the

Museum of Anthropology at UBC The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well as ...

in Vancouver, the

Douglas Reynolds Gallery Douglas Reynolds Gallery is an art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located in the Business Improvement Area of South Granville. The gallery was founded in 1995 by Douglas Reynolds. History Douglas Reynolds Gallery specializes in ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Lattimer Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1981 Adams wove a hat for her nephew, distinguished Haida artist Robert Davidson. Davidson honored Adams in return in his diptych ''The Seven Ravens,'' which depicted ravens representing his seven aunts, including Adams. Adam was acknowledged by Davidson again in his ''Fifty Years of Haida Weaving: The Robert Davidson Collection'' exhibition in 2009. Adams was included in Sharon J. Busby's 2003 ''Spruce-Root Baskets of the Haida and Tlingit'', a nonfiction book about Haida and Tlingit traditional craft. In 2005, Adams featured in the ''Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 2'' exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, New York. 2006 found Adams' work presented at the Vancouver Art Gallery's ''Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art'' exhibition. The 2010/2011 exhibition ''Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw'' at the UBC Museum of Anthropology attested to the artistic strength of Adams' ancestors, and she and three other matrilineal descendants of the Edenshaws attended its opening. In 2011 Adams was awarded the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art. In 2017, she is set to be featured in the ' exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, which will display works by recipients of the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art from 2007 to 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Primrose 1926 births 2020 deaths 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Artists from British Columbia First Nations basket weavers Haida artists Women basketweavers First Nations women artists