Babe and Carla Hemlock

Babe and Carla Hemlock
Born Donald Hemlock and Carla
Both were born in 1961
Nationality Mohawk Nation
Known for Native American art
Notable work Tribute to Mohawk Ironworkers[1]
Movement Haudenosaunee art
Awards Best in class awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market and Heard Museum Guild Fair
Website http://www.babeandcarlahemlock.com
Patron(s) National Museum of the American Indian

Babe and Carla Hemlock are an Kahnawake Mohawk husband-and-wife artistic team from Kahnawake Mohawk Nation Territory near Montreal. Babe specializes in woodcarving, and Carla focuses on textile artists; however, they work in a range of different artistic media.[2]

Background

Carla, born 1961, is from Kahnawake near Montreal, Quebec.[3][4] Babe, also born in 1961, grew up in Brooklyn, New York.[5] He is a fourth generation Mohawk ironworker.[5]

Art career

Both of Hemlocks relay Mohawk culture and history through their artwork. Babe carved and painted Walking in Two Worlds,[6] and Carla created a quilt Tribute to Mohawk Ironworkers, which combined beadwork and appliquéd figured inspired by Charles Ebbets' iconic 1932 photograph of Mohawk men perched on a suspended I-beam.[4] These pay homage to the late-19th century and 20th-century Mohawk construction workers, who helped build the highrises of New York City, including the Empire State Building. Her quilt, Haudenosaunee Passport, addresses the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee Nations that predate Canada and the United States of America.[4]

Babe constructs wooden cradleboards that he carves and paints with his own artistic imagery. “He’s really addressing stereotypes and identity issues," says Bruce Hartman, director of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.[5] In 2013, the couple collaborated on a cradleboard focused on the aboriginal game of lacrosse, which won the 2013 Santa Fe Indian Market Best of Classification for Diverse Art Forms.

The couple won Best of Classification for Diverse Art Forms at the Santa Fe Indian Market again in 2014.[7]

While the Hemlocks use political imagery in their artwork—for instance, questioning the long term effects of fracking—they also use aboriginal Iroquoian imagery. For instance, Carla uses images of turtles in her quilts.[8]

Collections

Major exhibitions

Notes

  1. 1 2 Abatemarco, Michael (6 September 2013). "Art in Review: Changing Hands". Pasatiempo. Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Carla Hemlock". Native American on the Web. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Bell, Gloria. "Interview with Curator Ellen Taubman, Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3, Museum of Arts and Design, New York City". Aboriginal Curatorial Collective. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Pallas, Amy. "Carla Hemlock: Depicting the Mohawk Nation in striking stitchwork". Cowboys & Indians. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 CJ, Janovy (21 August 2014). "At The Nerman, American Indian Art Is Contemporary". KCUR 89.3. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Lemmon, Colette (Spring 2014). "Walking in Two Worlds". Indian Arts and Crafts Association Journal: 16. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Haywood, Phaedra. "Navajo Weaver's Rug Wins Indian Market Best of Show". Canku Ota. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Jung, Carrie (17 August 2014). "Blanket statements: Contemporary art finds a home on quilts". Aljazeera America. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Hemlock, Carla. "Walking With Our Sisters". Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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