Urchin Basket
• Jeremy Frey, Passamaquoddy
• Ash, cedar bark, sweetgrass
• 10 1/2" diameter
Passamaquoody basketmaker Jeremy Frey is one of the leading young Wabanaki artists working in Maine. His finely detailed and highly creative basketry is sought after by museums and collectors across the country.
Jeremy adds new elements to baskets based on traditional styles and elements. On this urchin basket, a traditional form, has has added braided cedar bark where sweetgrass would traditionally have been used. He also incorporates weaving techniques learned from Hawaiian basketmakers on the base and handle.
Jeremy has won multiple prizes for his baskets, including Best of Show at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market in March 2011 and the Santa Fe Indian Market in August 2011. In 2010, he was was one of 50 artists nationwide to receive an unrestricted $50,000 Ford Fellowship from the Los Angeles-based United States Artists.
Finely woven basket with ash and braided cedar bark, 2007