Select Beadwork and Textiles
Abiish Ezhaiyin?
2023 Mocassins
These are the first mocassins Emilia Nahdee. Fashioned with methods learned from community, the moccasins are made from a large painting made in collaboration with her brother Alexandre Nahdee, found materials, beads and rabbit fur
Beaded Skittle; Forget Me Not
2023 Beadwork
Beading with candy and packaging, this work examines beadwork and laughter as a medium for community care and connection while confronting the consumption and development of culture
Preservation
2022 Cyanotype Quilt
Emilia Nahdee's first quilt utilizing cyanotype prints on silk, cotton, and wool. Images printed are gathered foliage and small items, as well as collaged photos.
NOOKMiG
2023
Utilizing beadwork to discuss perception theories within cognitive science and language revitalization in land based practices.
Little Hearts
February 2023
beaded series with reclaimed fabric
Monarch Patch
2022
Inspired by Emilia Nahdee's garden 2022
Bluegill Sunfish Mask
2022
Beadwork aplique and embroidery, and fabric manipulation enspired by ecololog of South Western Ontario
2023
Abiish Ezhaiyin?
Abiish Ezhaiyin?, 2023
Mocassins fashioned from a large scale painting with acrylic and aerosol paint created in collaboration with Emilia Nahdee's brother Alexandre Nahdee. Lining from reclaimed fabric. Vamps beaded with glass, metal, and shell beads, and gifted copper mesh. Rabbit fur trim.
Shown in ODEHMIN Exhibition at OCAD University June 21 2023
Beaded Skittle; Forget Me Not
Beaded Skittle; Forget Me Not, 2023
Stitching down a piece of candy that fell on the ground while visiting with friends led to creation of the Beaded Skittle; Forget Me Not. The work confronts the commodification of native culture and inaccess to resources by centring relationships and connecting over shared moments of joy and reflection.
NOOKMiG
NOOKMiG, 2023
Through beading NOOKMiG, Nahdee has explored the template and feature extraction theories of perception within cognitive science. Beadwork exemplifies the whole being more than a sum of its parts. We identify images that are meaningful to us such as flowers and words. The beads are stitched with intention. The background image is the forest floor of spring 2023 on Walpole island.
Little Hearts
Little Hearts, 2023
reclaimed fabric, copper, glass beads, thread
Little Hearts fit in the palm of your hand. Made from materials given to me such as upholstery fabric swatches, copper mesh and beads, this small series explores acts of care through sharing and making. It's the little things that count.
Images of Little Hearts 1 and 2, front and back on gessoed canvas.
2022
Monarch Patch
Monarch Patch, 2022
Monarch Patch is inspired by the butterflies and flowers in Emilia Nahdee's summer garden on her First Nation. Since 2020, the garden has been an assertion of food sovereignty and a place for creativity to flourish. This patch is the first of a yearly goal to bead a piece inspired by the space.
Bluegill Sunfish Mask
Bluegill Sunfish Mask, 2022
This mask features panels of rouched fabric with an a beaded fish applique, and embroidered bubble. The has a silk/wool lining and detachable fasteners. Emilia Nahdee created this mask as a functional artwork inspired by the ecosystem of the St. Clair River.
Preservation
Preservation 2022
Quilted Cyanotype Prints.