{"id":350189,"date":"2025-12-17T02:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/350189\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T02:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:41:09","slug":"artist-terrified-of-putting-anything-out-there-named-artsnl-artist-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/350189\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist ‘terrified of putting anything out there’ named ArtsNL artist of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melissa Tremblett \u2014 a visual artist of Innu and English heritage, originally from Sheshatshiu, N.L.\u2014 has been named ArtsNL’s artist of the year.<\/p>\n

The winners were announced in St. John’s during the 40th annual Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Awards ceremony.<\/p>\n

Tremblett wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy that my art practice has had such a positive impact these past few years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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 \u2014 and to challenge their own beliefs.”<\/p>\n

Tremblett moved from Sheshatshiu when she was three years old, and spent time in both Labrador and Newfoundland. <\/p>\n

Growing up, Tremblett said, she felt \u201ca lot of shame,\u201d and like she didn\u2019t truly belong anywhere.<\/p>\n

As a young artist, Tremblett said, she was also hesitant about showcasing her mixed Innu heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was terrified of putting anything out there because I didn\u2019t want to misrepresent people or misrepresent myself or my family or culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Tremblett said, pursuing an arts degree at Memorial University\u2019s Grenfell Campus helped her step into her specific, mixed heritage identity as an artist. <\/p>\n

Since graduating, Tremblett has shown her work in exhibitions and residencies across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ATremblett says her piece ‘Dreaming of Caribou,’ was her most ambitious work. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)<\/p>\n

Her medium often changes, encompassing photography, performance, installations and murals.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, her work includes traditional Innu crafts, such as beading and doll making. In her show \u201c1876 Changed My Life,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Over time, Tremblett said, her work keeps growing in scope.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting bigger and more obnoxious,\u201d Tremblett said with a laugh. \u201cAnd I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FourIn an upcoming work, Tremblett is working through her struggles with telogen effluvium \u2014 a condition where chronic stress leads to hair loss. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)Choosing to celebrate Indigenous legacies<\/p>\n

Obnoxiousness is a positive quality in Tremblett’s eyes. Bigger, brighter, more ambitious, and more courageous.<\/p>\n

Her recent sculptural piece \u201cDreaming of Caribou\u201d fits the bill. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"AnTremblett’s sculptural ‘Dreaming of Caribou” casts shadows with traditional Innu designs on the land. (Submitted by Melissa Tremblett)<\/p>\n

\u201cCaribou is an important animal and a sacred animal to the Innu people. It affected every part of their life \u2014 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.”<\/p>\n

For this piece, Tremblett cut designs into acrylic panels, setting them on a structure near a cliff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the sun shone through the panels, Tremblett explained, it cast shadows on the land. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much more history and richness to the Innu, Inuit, Mi\u2019kmaq and Beothuk legacies of this province, and I\u2019m choosing to celebrate those legacies with everything I make,\u201d Tremblett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Ennis Sisters received the hall of honour award, and Business & Arts N.L. won for patron of the arts.<\/p>\n

Download our\u00a0free CBC News app<\/a>\u00a0to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our\u00a0daily headlines newsletter here<\/a>. Click\u00a0here to visit our landing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melissa Tremblett \u2014 a visual artist of Innu and English heritage, originally from Sheshatshiu, N.L.\u2014 has been named…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-350189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}