Opening Thursday, May 17th at 7:30PM
Artist Talk Thursday, June 21st at 4:00PM in the ODD Gallery
The ODD Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of brand new jewellery by emerging artist Tamika Knutson. Tamika Knutson is Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in from Dawson City, Yukon Territory. After completing the foundation year program at Yukon School of Visual Arts in 2013, Tamika transferred to Nova Scotia College of Art and Design to further explore a variety of mediums and subjects in visual arts. Tamika earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in jewellery design and metalsmithing in April 2017. Her current body of work is influenced by traditional First Nations craft. Tamika continues to further her exploration of traditional materials and craft techniques at home in Dawson City. This summer Tamika will be exhibiting her new body of work at the ODD Gallery, participating in Adäka Cultural Festival in Whitehorse and attending a residency in Roaring forks, Colorado.
Artist Statement
Your skin protects and houses the most vital parts of your body, it is your shelter and home. I am inspired by how birch bark, the skin of a tree, is used as a material by First Nations and how crucial it has been to their livelihood. My aim with these jewellery pieces is to explore and retrace my indigenous identity as a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen while also bringing First Nation craft into a more contemporary space.
Through resourcefulness, First Nations transform ordinary things into useful materials, functional objects, and beautiful ornaments. I identify with this evolution of materials as a jeweller, as we also take rough materials and transform them into something precious. The use of birch bark in my work symbolizes an historical exchange between nature and people, and the subjectivity of preciousness.
— Tamika Knutson, 2018
tamikaknutson.com
Exhibition Brochure with text by Emma Piirtoniemi (pdf)