Panelists | Performers | Market Artists
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Sierra Henries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck
MEDIUM: Pyrography, Birchbark
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Sierra Henries has been drawing and experimenting with many different materials and visual mediums since she was young, but she has always been especially inspired by designs, colors, and shapes in the natural world. Her Nipmuc heritage and her family's involvement with the native community have shaped her desire to express Eastern Woodlands traditional art forms in her own unique way. Through a combination of both these loves, she eventually became interested in working with birch bark, a material that is utilized by many Native Peoples across the world. She gathers her own birch bark from the lush forests around her home. After deciding which part of the bark is best suited for her new creation, she uses a pencil to draw a freehand sketch of what will later be burned into the bark with a pyrography tool. Not only have these trees given her the perfect medium to rest her art on, but they have also given her the opportunity to travel to many a wonderful place. Such amazing experiences have been part of her life, and she is grateful that her art has brought her many of them. Her work continues to be inspired by nature and the people around her.
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Hawk Henries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck
MEDIUM: Musician, Woodworker
MARKET PERFORMER: Sunday, July 12, 12-12:45 p.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Hawk is a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck, a people indigenous to what is now Southern New England. He has been composing original music and making Eastern Woodlands flutes using hand tools for over 30 years.
Hawk will play a variety of different flutes. He also enjoys sharing his experiences and perspectives about Life in hopes of acknowledging and honoring the Sacredness in each person and all cultures. He creates a calming yet engaging and contemplative space while maintaining a note of humor. His music is a reflection of thinking that we each have the capacity to make a change in the world.
Hawk has had the honor of presenting at venues such as The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Harvard Medical School Graduation, and in the U.K. with the London Mozart Players. He also enjoys educational settings from kindergarten to university and small venues where he can engage the audience in dialogue.
As a seasoned flute maker, Hawk has flutes all over the world and in several museums. He has three original CD's; First Flight, Keeping the Fire and Voices. He is also featured on the compilation CD Tribal Winds. His music has been used in a variety of films and documentaries, some of which won or were nominated for Emmy awards.
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Eric Otter Bacon
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy
MEDIUM: Basketry, Woodwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
As a young child, my mother mentioned that I constantly created hand-drawn copies of sneakers and boots, particularly focusing on the tread patterns.
Woodworking and basket making soon followed at around age five or so, influenced by several family members, including my maternal grandfather, a Grand Lake wood strip canoe builder, my father, a wood and bone/antler carver, and my uncle who steam bent wood into dog sleds. I also was inspired by many basket makers on the reservation.
At the age of 16, I started working with Loyd Owle, a renowned Cherokee artist at the Unity Youth Treatment Center in North Carolina. I learned leatherwork, stone carving, and other Native arts. While receiving treatment there, I discovered the value of life, and it was where my first pieces of Native art were sold.
For many years, I pursued a tattoo apprenticeship, focusing my artwork on the industry. I also conducted extensive research on indigenous patterns and designs from around the world.
In 2004, I started making baskets professionally. And during my first decade, I began participating in and winning art competitions at various Native art markets. My work was also featured in the collections of major museums across the country.
During this period, I collaborated closely with birch bark canoe builders David Moses Bridges and Steve Cayard, constructing five different bark canoes with various Native communities to acquire and exchange knowledge of traditional canoe construction and material gathering/preparation.
In the future, I want to keep sharing and teaching the traditional arts knowledge I've gained. My goal is to inspire others to find value and hope within themselves so they have the tools to lead a positive and meaningful life.
David Lonebear Sanipass
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mi’kmaq
MEDIUM: Painting; Jewelry; Woodwork
ARTIST STATEMENT
My name is David Lonebear Sanipass, I grew up in northern Maine. I am from the Mi’kmaq Nation. I am a carver, make flutes, I paint and sketch. As an artist you want to be able to represent your art. I find the best way is to be able to talk about what it means. Some of what I do is so intricate you’re not really looking at what it means. The representation has been lost through interpretation. Part of the beauty isn't appreciated because it doesn’t speak to you. We have found a way for my art to speak with you, to come from my spirit, so it can be better appreciated and you will know more where I am coming from.
