Melissa Tremblett — a visual artist of Innu and English heritage, originally from Sheshatshiu, N.L.— has been named ArtsNL’s artist of the year.
The winners were announced in St. John’s during the 40th annual Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Awards ceremony.
Tremblett wasn’t able to be there because of a cancelled flight out of Corner Brooke due to the weather, but in a phone interview with CBC News she said she was honoured to be chosen.
“I’m really happy that my art practice has had such a positive impact these past few years,” she said.
“I think visibly celebrating culture in this deliberate and very public way invites people to engage and be curious, and [to be] willing to look past what they know about Indigenous people — and to challenge their own beliefs.”
Tremblett moved from Sheshatshiu when she was three years old, and spent time in both Labrador and Newfoundland.
Growing up, Tremblett said, she felt “a lot of shame,” and like she didn’t truly belong anywhere.
As a young artist, Tremblett said, she was also hesitant about showcasing her mixed Innu heritage.
“I was terrified of putting anything out there because I didn’t want to misrepresent people or misrepresent myself or my family or culture,” she said.
Eventually, Tremblett said, pursuing an arts degree at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus helped her step into her specific, mixed heritage identity as an artist.
Since graduating, Tremblett has shown her work in exhibitions and residencies across the country.
Tremblett says her piece ‘Dreaming of Caribou,’ was her most ambitious work. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)
Her medium often changes, encompassing photography, performance, installations and murals.
Sometimes, her work includes traditional Innu crafts, such as beading and doll making. In her show “1876 Changed My Life,” Tremblett crafted traditional Innu tea dolls. But instead of filling them with tea, she stuffed them with a torn up copy of the 1876 Indian Act.
Over time, Tremblett said, her work keeps growing in scope.
“It’s getting bigger and more obnoxious,” Tremblett said with a laugh. “And I love that.”
In an upcoming work, Tremblett is working through her struggles with telogen effluvium — a condition where chronic stress leads to hair loss. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)Choosing to celebrate Indigenous legacies
Obnoxiousness is a positive quality in Tremblett’s eyes. Bigger, brighter, more ambitious, and more courageous.
Her recent sculptural piece “Dreaming of Caribou” fits the bill.
Tremblett made it for the Bonavista Biennale contemporary art festival this year, and believes the piece had a big impact on her win at the ArtsNL awards.
Tremblett’s sculptural ‘Dreaming of Caribou” casts shadows with traditional Innu designs on the land. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)
“Caribou is an important animal and a sacred animal to the Innu people. It affected every part of their life — for food, for shelter, for clothing,” she said. “And the Innu caribou coats and the designs that I use in my work are really symbolic when it comes to the reciprocal nature that the Innu people have with the caribou.”
For this piece, Tremblett cut designs into acrylic panels, setting them on a structure near a cliff.
When the sun shone through the panels, Tremblett explained, it cast shadows on the land.
In a place like the Bonavista Peninsula, where colonial history has long been celebrated, this felt like beaming a lens of Indigenous culture on the landscape, said Tremblett.
“There’s so much more history and richness to the Innu, Inuit, Mi’kmaq and Beothuk legacies of this province, and I’m choosing to celebrate those legacies with everything I make,” Tremblett said.
“It’s so important to celebrate the original peoples of this province and really invite people to see things they never thought, and maybe to question and even, you know, be inspired to look more into the history and culture.”
ArtsNL handed out five more awards to artists in the province during this year’s celebration. Nelson White won the artist achievement award, Matt Perrier won the emerging artist award, and Sherry Crowley took home the award for arts in education.
The Ennis Sisters received the hall of honour award, and Business & Arts N.L. won for patron of the arts.
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