Martha Berry is a Cherokee beadwork artist, who is very influential in reviving traditional Cherokee and southeastern jewelry, especially techniques from the pre-Removal period. He has been recognized as a national treasure of Cherokee. His work is shown in museums throughout the United States.
Video Martha Berry (artist)
​​â € <â €
Martha Berry was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a registered Cherokee tribal nation. Berry's grandmother and mother taught her how to sew and embroider by the age of five. She made her own clothes at the age of nine. When he was 20 years old, he became a professional tailor. He has expanded his skills by developing elaborate artworks. She taught herself the art of painting the lost Cherokee by studying photographs of artifacts and examining Cherokee artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution.
Maps Martha Berry (artist)
Artwork
Berry creates a beaded bandolier bag, mokasin, belt, knee strap, wallet, and belt. He often uses beadwork designs that evolved from pre-contact Mississippian pottery into traditional beadworks of the 18th and 19th centuries. Berry invented a unique skewer that was only used on the southeast sash. He is credited with reviving the art of Cherokee beadwork, which has suffered a serious decline over the years. His artwork, expressed through utilitarian goods, shows themes such as duality and lifelong change. Berry beads also express the "feelings of conflict, loss, distortion, and confusion today."
He has won prizes for his beadwork at the Cherokee Art Market, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Heard Museum, and the Cherokee Heritage Center. Berry has delivered a lecture on the resurrection of the pre-contact Cherokee beadwork at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia; Museum Manik in Glendale, Arizona; Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas; Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa; Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City; The Creek House House Museum in Okmulgee, OK; and Cherokee Heritage Center at Parkhill, OK.
Project
Berry participates in the Native American Community Scholarship Program of the Smithsonian Institution. He has visited their collection to conduct further research into the Southeastern pre-Removal beadwork, which has informed his own work.
Berry recently curated Beadwork Storytellers: A Visual Language , an exhibit by Cherokee at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Park Hill, Oklahoma. The exhibit includes beadwork from the collection of Aberdeen University Museum, Scotland which has not been seen in the United States in nearly two centuries. Berry also writes text for event catalogs.
Personal
Berry lives in Tyler, Texas with her husband, David. Her daughter, Christina Berry, is also a beader, photographer and publisher of "All Things Cherokee." Her daughter, Karen Berry, is a Cherokee pumpkin artist.
He served as a delegate to the 1999 Cherokee Constitution Convention in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His role in the convention helped the Cherokee state in Oklahoma heal himself and "reaffirmed himself as a capable ruler in Oklahoma." He is currently an active member of several Cherokee organizations including the Cherokee Artist Association.
Quotes
"I want to make beautiful things, I want to teach more people to do the same, and I want to grow more traditional Cherokee craft teachers."
References
External links
- Martha Berry: Cherokee Beadwork Artist.
- Art Gallery All Things Cherokee: Martha Berry.
- The Cherokee Artist Association: Martha Berry.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments