like an angel

Craft felt, beads, sequins, found materials
2025

This Thanksgiving I went to my nan's house again, where I grew up, and hidden on a shelf I saw it — the silver holographic covered journal. Everytime I see it I think of my nan taking me to visit my anansiak in the hospital, this journal in hand. I guess such a flashy cover really stuck in my mind.

It was a rare moment, maternal and paternal grandmothers meeting for the first time. My nan speaks of the love — the tenderness — between them. She always said how anansiak looked like an angel. Anansiak passed away not long after that.

I was moving between St John's and Nain, back and forth, as a kid. I remember phone calls from each place to each grandmother. I remember asking anansiak what certain words were in Inuktitut. I remember she knew them all except the word for butterfly.

I was thinking of all this when I was making this piece. I loved the process of this one, beading the details of one wing then trying to mirror it on the other side. Sewing the pieces together and stuffing it, getting my partner to find a good stick to hang it from.

This one felt like a momento, a souvenir, a tribute, a letter. I hope it makes you think of someone special to you