Collection by Cree Stevens (artist)

Paintings by Cree Stevens

These paintings are an exploration of ancient and contemporary Ojibwe culture.

This painting is called Matoaka: Deconstructing Pocahontas - The Savage Hussy. It was completed in the spring of 2014. It is a mixed media piece on wood panel and consists of acrylic paint, paper, cheesecloth, oil pencil, charcoal, embossing tape, and rub-on vinyl letters. The dimensions are 48” x 32” x 1.5”. This artwork is part of an ongoing series called Deconstructing Pocahontas and is dedicated to Matoaka (or Pocahontas, as she is more popularly known). Over the past 400 years, Pocahontas has taken on different identities through oral and written history, the arts, and modern mass media. The true story of her life, her disappearance, and her death remains unknown. As a result, she is shaped and reshaped to fit Western ideologies while her true identity is ignored. Four hundred years later, the cycle continues as many Indigenous women are murdered and go missing without reparation. It is important to recognize and commemorate these women. In this series I deconstruct Pocahontas so that we can honour Matoaka of the Powhatan Nation; and accordingly, honour today’s missing Indigenous women for who they really are - daughters, sisters, aunties, cousins, friends, wives, mothers, grandmothers, and members of their communities.
This painting is called Matoaka: Deconstructing Pocahontas - The Savage Hussy. It was completed in the spring of 2014. It is a mixed media piece on wood panel and consists of acrylic paint, paper, cheesecloth, oil pencil, charcoal, embossing tape, and rub-on vinyl letters. The dimensions are 48” x 32” x 1.5”. This artwork is part of an ongoing series called Deconstructing Pocahontas and is dedicated to Matoaka (or Pocahontas, as she is more popularly known). Over the past 400 years, Pocahontas has taken on different identities through oral and written history, the arts, and modern mass media. The true story of her life, her disappearance, and her death remains unknown. As a result, she is shaped and reshaped to fit Western ideologies while her true identity is ignored. Four hundred years later, the cycle continues as many Indigenous women are murdered and go missing without reparation. It is important to recognize and commemorate these women. In this series I deconstruct Pocahontas so that we can honour Matoaka of the Powhatan Nation; and accordingly, honour today’s missing Indigenous women for who they really are - daughters, sisters, aunties, cousins, friends, wives, mothers, grandmothers, and members of their communities.
This painting is called Wiigwaas Transformation Mask. “Wiigwaas” (pronounced weeg-wass) means birch bark in Ojibwe. This mixed media piece is on wood panel and is made with drywall compound, acrylic paint, fibre paste, course molding paste, copper sheet, copper tacks, copper leaf, and beads. The artwork is part of an ongoing series exploring birch bark and copper and their roles and symbolism in Ojibwe culture. It was completed September 2016. The dimensions are 36” X 48” X 1.5”.
This painting is called Wiigwaas Transformation Mask. “Wiigwaas” (pronounced weeg-wass) means birch bark in Ojibwe. This mixed media piece is on wood panel and is made with drywall compound, acrylic paint, fibre paste, course molding paste, copper sheet, copper tacks, copper leaf, and beads. The artwork is part of an ongoing series exploring birch bark and copper and their roles and symbolism in Ojibwe culture. It was completed September 2016. The dimensions are 36” X 48” X 1.5”.
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