The Art of Maria Hupfield
As a viewer informed by Western art history, chances are that Joseph Beuys will come to mind when you see grey industrial felt presented in an art gallery. But, Maria Hupfield puts a crack in that canon with her approach to this material. When asked her thoughts about Beuys, her reply is refreshing in its dismissal of the artist’s influence and the myth-making at the root of his practice. As a woman, as Anishnaabe growing up in rural Canada, her work draws on Indigenous traditions, personal history and very real experience.
Whether with intent or not, Hupfield brings new meaning to THE felt suit with her Jingle Spiral, a ceremonial garment made to be activated though performance.
Hupfield claims this heavily-coded material for herself and, in so doing, offers a welcome transgression to Western tradition, and challenges us to question whose story informs the grand narrative we call art history.KW
LEFT: Maria Hupfield, Spiral Jingle 2015 | RIGHT: Joseph Beuys, Felt Suit 1970, multiple of 100
