Natalie Sappier Reveals Basket Inspired Art piece for Ron & Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts
Local Wolastoqiyik multidisciplinary artist Samaqani Cocahq (Natalie Sappier) has unveiled the design for her large-scale tiled art piece which will be incorporated into the main lobby of Fredericton’s new performing arts centre, the Ron & Erma Hawkes Centre for the Arts. Titled POSONUT (translated as BASKET), the sprawling artwork depicts an image of an unfinished basket-a symbolic design that connects the cultural roots of New Brunswick to a future-oriented vision of creation, healing, and unity.
Natalie said she was very honoured to be asked to come up with a design for the central lobby piece, and went on many vision walks in the woods to seek inspiration for her creation. Through these, she began focusing in on the concept of a basket: a ceremonial structural tool that many lean on for structure and support. When she viewed the tiled patterns on the floor on the new building’s blueprints, she was immediately reminded of the interwoven patterns found within baskets. This served as a jumping off point for her design.
POSONUT, is a humbling unfinished basket. By leaving the basket unfinished and placing it on the ground beneath community members’ feet, Natalie hopes that theatre patrons will see themselves as a part of our community’s interwoven network of relationships. The piece asks viewers to regard themselves as an indispensable unit in a community full of other indispensable threads, all bound together by time and space. “You take one strand away and the structure falls apart. We’re all in this together,” Samaqani Cocahq says. “No matter who you are, you are part of the basket.”
Wolastoqey Elder Ron Tremblay played a guiding role in the work’s development, sharing teachings of the Wabanaki basket as a metaphor for generational wisdom. A story he shared about creation was a constant source of inspiration for Natalie as she worked on the piece:
Today, Waponahkiyik, in memory of Their birth, still create beautiful baskets by utilizing Ash Trees. The bottom of a weaved basket symbolizes Ancestors of Waponahkiyik. As the basket is weaved, the side bottom splints are Great Grandparents and above them are Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles. The top rim that holds the basket together, represents Waponahki-Children. The basket is a teaching on how Waponahki-Ancestors hold all the Wisdom and Knowledge, while Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles continue teaching language, ceremonies and how to live in harmony with all Creation. Waponahki-Children are at the top, holding everything together.
-- Nit-Leyic – May That Be So…May That Be the Truth
While creating the design, Samaqani said she could feel the water on her hands like wet hands of a basket maker as they weave strands together. To honour the water, The Wolastoq, The Ancestors and the Artist Spirit that is so vulnerably shared with the world through their art, Samaqani placed white colour tiles along the top strands of the basket to symbolize the glistening water, guiding stars and the magic of creating something beautiful and powerful.