Local Basket Maker, Carrie Hill, has been bestowed the honor of creating an art installation to represent Northern New York, to be displayed in Swaziland, Africa at the United States Embassy.
Very carefully, on Wednesday May 18th, 2016, Atelier 4, a fine art packing company, packed up Ms. Hill’s installation in custom packaging in preparation for their journey to Africa, where they will be displayed for three years.
Ms. Hill was initially contacted by Camille Benton, Curator for Art in Embassies, on behalf of US Ambassador to Swaziland Lisa Peterson. Benton, who is a native Northern New Yorker, was tasked with finding an artist to create an installation to be representative of the Northern New York area. “It’s crazy, of all the amazing artists in this area, and she found me. I’m just very grateful to have this opportunity to show the world who we really are. I feel honored in sharing our traditional basketry that Mohawks are known for, something that’s real and from my heart,†said Hill.
Ms. Hill’s installation features six baskets, traditionally made of black ash and sweet grass, with her own modernized artistic expressions in her colors and weaves. Each basket represents one of the six Iroquois Nations- Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora, in a way that no other basket weaver has attempted. Each of these baskets is shaped to look like a “Kahstowa,†which is traditional regalia, Iroquoian head piece, worn by men of the respective tribes. The feathers adorned atop these creative masterpieces are fastened in traditional formation, as the feathers were used to indicate which tribe they belong to. A big nia:wen kowa goes out to Natasha Santiago-Smoke for the assistance in this feather work.
Ms. Hill stated that, “this series is representative of the Iroquois Nation, because I believe it’s important we’re recognized, and I want to be able to shed good light on our people. I was tasked with representing our beautiful people; I just hope I make them proud.â€
Carrie Hill is the wife of Glenn Hill Jr., Ista (Mother) of Rain and Ansley, and the daughter of Kathi Jock and Curtis Mitchell. Her basket making skills are generational and strong in her family of well-known basket weavers. Formerly a teacher’s aide at the Saint Regis Mohawk School, Carrie quit her job to pursue her passion full-time, and has since built a studio, a clientele, and weekly class facilitations at her Akwesasne, NY studio.
ATV: By Ohseraséia:hawi
