Catherine Blackburn ( Canada )

Catherine Blackburn was born in Patuanak, Saskatchewan, of Dene and European ancestry and is a member of the English River First Nation. She is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweller, whose common themes address Canada’s colonial past that are often prompted by personal narratives. Her work merges mixed media and fashion to create dialogue between historical art forms and new interpretations of them. Utilizing beadwork and other historical adornment techniques, she creates space to explore Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and representation. Her work has exhibited in notable national and international exhibitions and fashion runways.

Catherine Blackburn
Catherine Blackburn, Scooped, (detail), 2017 (photos, 24kt-gold-plated beads, seed beads, thread, 12x9cm). Courtesy of the artist.

From the Archives

  • 2023 / core / exhibition

    Group Exhibition
    Materialized

    Critical Distance
    Combining portrait photography with elements from adornment arts, textiles, sculpture, and customary Indigenous art practices, Materialized examines themes of intergenerational memory, familial narrative, and decolonization through the work of artists Joi T. Arcand, Celeste Pedri-Spade, Catherine Blackburn, and Nadya Kwandibens. By using their craft to reclaim portraiture as a form of self-expression and self-determination, each artist resists the colonial metanarratives contained in settler-made images of Indigenous subjects.
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