Julia Marden
Born1962 (age 61–62)
NationalityWampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, American
Known forTextile art, basketry

Julia Marden (born 1962[1]) is an American artist based in Vermont.[2][3] A member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe, Marden specializes in traditional Wampanoag arts and crafts, including basket and mat twining,[4] wampum belts,[5][6] and painting.[7]

Early life and education

Marden was born in 1962[1] and raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and also spent parts of her childhood in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard.[3][7] Her father was a carpenter, and as a child she would use his wood shavings to make her own art.[7] She also made collages from found objects.[7]

Art career

Marden began learning customary crafts in the early 1990s, from Native American staff, when she began working in the Wampanoag Indian Program at Plimoth Plantation.[2][3][7] Specifically, Marden learned twining, a type of weaving technique which involves wrapping fibers around one another without using a loom.[8] She had created 63 twined pieces by 2012.[9] It takes Marden about two months of 40-hour weeks to twine a bag with commercial cordage.[8] For more historic twining, which takes longer, Marden uses cattails, bulrushes, and cornhusks, among other plants. Porcupine quills or moose hair may also be worked into the designs.[8]

Marden has also created miniature dolls, which she calls Eninuog, which represent Native people and the clothing they wore at the time of European contact.[2][8]

Marden has her own studio and store in Ryegate, Vermont, named Bluejay Visions.[7] She has shown her work at the Atrium Gallery in One Capitol Hill,[10] the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, the National Heritage Museum,[11] the Rhode Island Department of Administration,[9] the Robbins Museum,[2] and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts.[12]

In 2022, Marden was one of eight Wampanoag artists profiled in Lee Roscoe's book, Wampanoag Art for the Ages: Traditional and Transitional.[4][13]

In 2023, Marden created a turkey feather mantle she had twined by hand, making it the first-known such mantle created post-European contact 400 years earlier. Marden called it "most likely the most important piece" she will ever make. It will be shown at the Aquinnah Cultural Center in 2024.[3]

Personal life

Marden has one daughter, Leah Llanes, who learned to twine at age 6; Llanes' daughter has also learned to twine.[8]

Marden was given the name Bluejay Weaving in a Wampanoag naming ceremony, in honor of her craftsmanship and the fierceness with which blue jays protect their young.[7]

Marden has resided in Vermont since at least 2015,[2] but has also previously lived in Connecticut.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "useful things made beautiful". Keepers of Tradition. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "On the CreativeGround with Julia Marden". NEFA. November 20, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "First in 400 years. Turkey feather mantle unveiled at Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe Powwow". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  4. 1 2 D'Addario, John (November 23, 2022). "Art That Sustains and Perseveres". The Provincetown Independent. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Wampum Belt Exhibit Has Vineyard Roots". The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  6. ↑ Morris, Steven (January 5, 2020). "Mayflower 400 events could help recover lost Native American treasure". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hirsch, April (July 11, 2018). "NATIVE ARTISTS X TEA COLLECTION: MEET JULIA MARDEN". Tea Collection. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Roscoe, Lee (September 29, 2022). Wampanoag Art for the Ages, Traditional and Transitional. Coyote Press. pp. 17–19. ISBN 978-0-578-26292-5.
  9. 1 2 3 Kalunian, Kim (June 19, 2012). "Reception for first-ever Native American art show on Smith Hill is Thursday". Warwick Beacon. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  10. ↑ "State Arts Council Announces the 2017 State Native American Art Exhibit at the Atrium Gallery". www.ri.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  11. ↑ ArtSake (June 20, 2008). "Folk Art at the National Heritage Museum". Massachusetts Cultural Council. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  12. ↑ Hoffman, Karen Ann (March 30, 2019). ""Native Fiber" celebrates innovations in contemporary textile art in the Great Lakes". First American Art Magazine. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Still Here : Wampanoag Art for the Ages". Provincetown Magazine. October 27, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
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