Indigenous mixed-ancestor multidisciplinary artist Carrie Allison seeks to contemplate and interact with the natural world through visual explorations in which she uses beading, embroidery, and multimedia techniques. These practices are repetitive and time intensive, and it is in the durational and durable nature of Allison\u2019s gestures that connections with stories of the past can germinate and reactivate the knowledge conveyed in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaded Botanicals<\/em>(2018\u20132019) comprises beaded interpretations of endangered botanicals native to Mi\u2019kma\u2019ki territory, where Allison currently resides. These drawings are juxtaposed with corresponding specimens of the plants borrowed from the Nova Scotia Museum\u2019s herbarium, creating evocative diptychs. The beadwork in Allison\u2019s representations is fragmented to shed light on the current fragile state of these plants. A gap can thus be perceived between the information conveyed by each iteration of these botanical varieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series, Allison challenges the dominant documentation and classification systems that shape botanical knowledge. Through visual poetics, she draws a distinction between Western modes of classification and Indigenous knowledge, reminding us that the former system is a means to order and, consequently, control the nature around us. The dialogue between the borrowed documents and Allison\u2019s beaded representations hence raises questions about which knowledge is valued and whose viewpoint is expressed in how knowledge is shared. All forms of documentation, however objective they are deemed to be, are the result of choices, perspectives, and methodologies that influence their reception. By pairing scientifically annotated specimens with her own interpretations of the flora, Allison suggests that these plants, whether represented or pressed, manifest relationships with living species. The authenticity of the documentation can, in this sense, reside as much in relation to the plant as to its harvesting. Given that beading requires remarkable endurance, Allison\u2019s use of the art in her works attests not only to the alarming disappearance of the plant species concerned but also to the resilience of this flora, despite everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated from the French by Louise Ashcroft<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n