Carrie Allison is a Nêhiýaw/Cree, Métis, and European descent visual artist based in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She grew up on the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Allison’s maternal roots are based in High Prairie, Alberta, Treaty 8, where she visits every summer to connect to the land and visit family. She is an active member of the arts community and is currently Co-Chair of the Eyelevel Artist Run Centre Board.
Situated in K’jipuktuk since 2010, her practice responds to her maternal Nêhiýaw/Cree and Métis ancestry, thinking through intergenerational cultural loss and acts of reclaiming, resilience, and resistance, while also thinking through notions of allyship, kinship and visiting. Her practice is rooted in research and pedagogical discourses. Her work seeks to reclaim, remember, recreate and celebrate her ancestry through visual discussions often utilizing beading, embroidery, handmade paper, watercolour, websites, QR codes, audio, video and most recently animation.
Allison’s practice is time intensive, repetitive, durational and thoughtful: she uses beading to connect with histories, narratives, relatives, and ancestors. She is fascinated with Mother Earth’s living beings. They (living beings – plants, fungi, animals, bodies of water) often become the subjects of deep contemplation and interaction in her work.
Allison holds a Master in Fine Art, a Bachelor in Art History, and a Bachelor in Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. Her work has been exhibited nationally in The Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Urban Shaman, Winnipeg, and Beaverbrook Art Gallery, New Brunswick. She has had solo exhibitions at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, the Owens Art Gallery, The Museum of Natural History, Nova Scotia, and The New Gallery, Alberta. Allison has received grants from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Arts Nova Scotia and Canada Council for the Arts and is the recipient of this years’ Melissa Levin Award from the Textile Museum of Canada. Allison’s work has been shown in Canadian Art, Esse and Visual Arts News.
