Aboriginal Classics
This series, while delicate, is steeped with subversion, using rich colors and traditional techniques to challenge complex questions surrounding commodification, cultural appropriation, and cultural understanding. Referencing the historical, cross-cultural context of tea production and consumption through the universal form of the ‘teabag’, Blackburn speaks to this vessel as a “storier” that embodies the past in the present whilst simultaneously celebrating Indigenous identity and creative expression.
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,dried rosehips, acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,infused rice (balsam essential oil), acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,infused rice (birch essential oil), acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,infused rice (spruce essential oil), acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,ratroot, acrylic gel medium 2016 Collection of Art Gallery of Guelph
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,labrador tea leaves, acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,infused rice (cedar essential oil), acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection
beads, teabag,birch bark, sinew,bearberry tea, acrylic gel medium 2016 Private Collection