Audrey Arsenault
[ WABANAKI ARTIST: 2021, 2022, 2023]
Taqawan (Young Salmon) - 11” x 30.5”, copper, pine wood
$2500
Reconciliation - Raised Sterling Silver, Chrysoprase Stone, Maple Wood, Blue Jay Feathers
$4000
Ethnocide - SOLD to CollectionArtNB 2022/23 acquisition. Copper, Chasing and Repousse, Maple wood, leather
Na'gu'set - SOLD to CollectionArtNB for their 2022/23 acquisition. Chased Copper, Sterling Silver, Leather, Maple Wood
Audrey Arsenault, Aud Metal, is a Mi’gmag silversmith and jeweller. She works mainly with precious and semi-precious materials. In her work, she is influenced by her Wabanaki cultures’ beliefs, story of resilience, and minimalist style. Arsenault graduated in 2021 from the Advanced Studio Practice program at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. She is a 2023 graduate of the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton with a degree in Applied Arts. In 2021 and 2022, Arsenault’s work was shown in the “Wabanaki Exhibition” in the Yorkville Village of Toronto, Ontario, led by Gallery on Queen.
In 2022 Arsenault’s work was part of Gallery on Tour/Tata, a collaboration between Gallery on Queen in Fredericton, NB, and the Ice House Gallery in Tatamagouche, NS.
She was also part of the Beneath the Surface artist residency in Fundy National Park in 2022, with a following exhibition outdoors on the park grounds in the summer of 2023. Arsenault’s works, “Ethnocide” (2021) and “Na’gu’set” (2022) have been selected for the 2023 acquisition to the Provincial art collection, CollectionArtNB.
“Preserving themes from my Mi’gmag cultures’ beliefs and story of resilience is of great importance to me. Through the ancient metalsmithing technique of chasing and repoussé, I hammer these age-old essential narratives and cultural teachings into copper, pushing them into the present day with each hammer blow. I choose to work mainly with copper because of its malleability, I can easily manipulate it into speaking the narratives that I need it to. My work adds to the discussion of world issues that surround the preservation of Indigenous ways of knowing, of nature and food sources that have kept my culture living well since the time of creation.”