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Vanessa Brousseau is a proud Inuk & Ojibwe artist and activist currently residing in Ontario’s Niagara region. Last year, Vanessa was a recipient of an Indigenous Visual Artists Material (IVAM) grant. The IVAM grant is a partnership with the Ontario Arts Council and the Inuit Art Foundation that supports Indigenous artists working in the visual arts, crafts, or traditional/customary art forms. With this grant, Vanessa was able to create her beautiful and powerful work, Red Sealskin Dress (2022).
Condensed from an interview, this article was edited by IAF staff and approved by Vanessa Brousseau.
I currently reside in Ontario’s Niagara region, but I have a lot of places I call home. I was born in Hamilton, ON and moved to Timmins, ON at a very young age. My mother is from Moose Factory, ON, and my father is from Mattagami First Nation. But my true home is Sanikiluaq Nunavut - that is where my grandfather was from. He was taken from there when he was 19 years old with tuberculosis and was not allowed to go back. That experience really affected my family. My mom wasn't taught Inuit culture, mostly because of intergenerational trauma. My mother's passed now and after she passed, I really wanted to connect with my people and who I am as an Inuk woman.
I actually moved to Ottawa because there's a large Inuit community there. I made connections with Elders and knowledge keepers and they taught me about my Inuk culture. They taught me how to work with sealskin, but I never made art. I found that working with sealskin not only helped me reconnect with my Inuit culture, but helped me heal.
My sister has been missing now for almost 19 years. It’s my sister’s story that was a call to action for me to make this Red Sealskin Dress (2022). The dress is made of 32 panels of black and red sealskin. The black panels have a hand beaded red dress inlay, there are eight of those. I did it all by hand, no sewing machine, and it took me at least three months to make. I'm very proud of it now.
Vanessa Brousseau wears her Red Sealskin Dress (2022). This powerful piece made possible with the support of the IVAM grant is not meant to be static, it is meant to be actively worn to spark meaningful and difficult conversations. Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Brousseau.
I was so grateful to receive support through the Indigenous Visual Artists Materials program because I'm going to be honest with you: without that grant, I probably wouldn't have been able to make it. It didn't just help me create art, it helped create healing.
When I wear it, it honestly makes me feel like I'm a queen. People have asked me to put it in a museum somewhere, but it's meant to be worn and to spark conversation. I actively wear it to powwows and to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit events. I even wore it to the 2022 Juno awards in Toronto.
I want to use my art to create awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit - it's something that I'm always going to be passionate about. I want to combine my art with activism, and I've already started a MMIWG2S training program. I'm hoping that in the next five years, I will be able to work for myself or as a consultant, focusing on creating awareness and making change: those are my goals.
Vanessa Brousseau wears her Red Sealskin Dress (2022). This powerful piece made possible with the support of the IVAM grant is not meant to be static, it is meant to be actively worn to spark meaningful and difficult conversations. Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Brousseau.
To the donors who made this grant possible, I want to let you know it didn't just help me in creating art, it helped create healing and it is helping to create change and awareness. Whenever I wear this dress, it starts conversations about the very sad subject about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit. It gives me the opportunity to share my sister's story, to speak about it and encourage others to speak about MMIWG2S. Thank you, Miigwetch, Nakurmiik.
One of Brousseau’s Red Dress works will be featured this fall in an immersive art exhibition entitled “If Only These Dresses Could Tell Their Story" taking place at Artpark in Lewiston, NY. Having created over 500 red dresses, Vanessa hopes to continue using her art as a form of activism.
To our donors, you create opportunities for artists to use their creativity to express themselves and tell their stories!
The grant you make possible helps artists like Vanessa Brousseau to create amazing works. We’re excited to see where Vanessa’s artistic journey will take her and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on her works!
Your support has had a major impact helping Inuit artists make beautiful and powerful works! Thank you!