Five Questions with Meghan Weeks
Photo Credit: Geoffrey Wallang
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In our ‘Five Questions With’ series, we get to know members of our community and their invaluable roles in making Emily Carr a great place to learn, work and teach.
From her early days working in gallery spaces, to building custom kitchens, Meghan Weeks relishes those winding roads to finding her passion in jewelry and beadwork. This month, Meghan received the 2024 Sam Carter Award for Applied Art + Design, where President and Vice-Chancellor Trish Kelly was a judge. We chatted to Meghan about her art and jewelry practice, the Simpsons and her fun fashion sense.
How did it feel to receive the 2024 Sam Carter Award for Applied Art + Design?
A jeweller and a textile artist encouraged me to apply, so I thought, okay why not challenge myself? In 2022, I submitted a brand-new package since you can update it every three years. But I got super burnt out and didn’t keep it updated.
Then I got an email from Rup Grewal and Cathryn Wilson asking to chat about my 2022 nomination. I figured they just wanted to give me some feedback. But when I got on the call, they said, ‘You’re actually one of the recipients.’ I turned bright red and just started crying!
I don’t take it lightly, for sure. I’m still processing it, and I sometimes deal with imposter syndrome. When they announced it publicly, I found out who the other recipients were, and I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m not worthy!’” But it felt incredible.
With your jewelry at MDW Jewelry, you had a limited run of necklaces based on ‘The Simpsons’ - so how do humour and pop culture play a role in your practice?
Humour is huge in Native culture – it's how we cope and deal with struggles. We have the biggest laughs! And when it comes to pop culture, The Simpsons is a classic. I mean, it’s been around forever, right? So that collection came about when I was making a bunch of peyote stitch necklaces, I thought, why not make them represent something? It’s fun when you start stitching and realize, ‘Whoa, that looks like Homer!’
The show has been around for so long, and you can find their Pantone colours online, which helped with creating those necklaces. My culture through my bead and silver work means a lot to me. I feel a responsibility to uphold it, especially with the history of colonization, how residential schools tried to eliminate Indigenous culture and how generations have been affected. It feels like a reclamation because I grew up hearing my aunty, uncles and Kokum speak Cree, but I never was taught to speak the language. So, I feel I’m reclaiming that by naming some of my rings and pieces in the Nehiyaw language. It all intertwines.
"The Salmon Teeth Hoop is made of real salmon teeth found on the beach and the hoop was hand fabricated in sterling silver. The bed for the salmon teeth was made using wax and cast in sterling silver using the lost wax casting method.
The Hot Wing Whistle was made from a hot wing I ate and afterward made a whistle out of. I took a mold of the bone and cast it in sterling silver using the lost wax casting method. After casting, I fabricated it into a whistle. It really works!"
Who has inspired your fashion sense and why?
This makes me laugh out loud because I don’t have a fashion sense at work! I have four black T-shirts and four pairs of sweatpants because I get dirty when I’m always just woodworking or mould-making and wearing an apron.
Outside of work, I like to dress up, and I like to make sure that I support Indigenous fashion designers first. Mobilize is one of my favourites. They’re based out of Edmonton. I like to wear Section 35, they make really comfy streetwear. The creative director and founder, Justin Louis, commissioned pieces and used MDW Jewelry in his formal line for his runway debut at New York Fashion Week. I just really love big, comfy clothes, especially when dressing up. I just want to be comfortable and look good, but I don’t get fancy for work!
I also love to wear big, beautiful, beaded earrings made by Indigenous Beadwork Artists like Lisa Walker of @lisabeading, Catherine Blackburn @catherinebjewellery, Meagan Anishinabie @megsanishinabie, Skye Paul of @runningfoxbeads, Jamie Campbell of @whiteotterdesign, Chenoa Williams of @aonehc_aonehc, Cedar Eve of @cedareve and Cory Hunlin of @thisclaw. This is just a small list of so many incredibly talented beadwork artists that I have in my collection.
What do you most like about your role within the ECU community?
I’ve been a coordinator for about a year and a technician for 16 years, and working with students is super inspiring, especially first-year students. They’re so new to everything, like art-making in the woodshop. Sometimes, you can really blow a person’s mind with what’s possible and help them discover new tools and resources! I also love working alongside all the talented technicians; it’s great to be part of such a creative team.
What would you present an artist talk on if we set you loose in the Reliance Theatre?
It would be awesome to talk about native colloquialisms. Why do we point with our lips? Or how aunties play a huge role in our culture. Speaking about why aunties are so deadly and important would be fun too!