Krista Point

Region: Vancouver Coast & Mountains

Website:
Band Affiliation:
Musqueam

Link Code

Cut and paste the following code onto your blog or social media sites to link to this page.


Artist Statement

Krista has been a Coast Salish weaver for 30 years. “Inspired by my great-grandmother who was a basket weaver. Due to many influences in my life, I always had an interest in weaving”
Coast Salish weaver Krista Point is a member of the Musqueam Nation. Her weavings have been displayed internationally and are included in collections at the Smithsonian, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, the Bill Reid Foundation, CBC and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Bio

“The weavings that I’ve done are with traditional designs which come from old blankets and baskets. I like the zig zag design. This design has a few different meanings — a trail or a snake as well as lightning, it has a lot of strength and power. I use the Salish butterflies on most of my weavings, the double arrowhead, checker board pattern and herringbone.

“The colors I use are natural colors. Yellow can be dyed from onion skins, dandelions, goldenrod flowers. Green is dyed with stinging nettles, horsetail plants and red onion skins. Red can be dyed with red alder bark. The goldish beige color if from lichens. The colors you get depend on the type of tree you pick it from; they are energy forces that affect us positively or negatively, altering our moods and awareness.

“One-third of the work begins even before you start to weave. First you have to split the wool, rove the wool which means rolling it on your leg that give you a little spin before you put it through the spinner. When the wool is spun you have to shock it in hot tap water. This gives it strength and holds the spin together. The steps for dying the wool are to soak it in what you call a mordant bath. This is done by soaking the wool in the mordant and helps the fiber accept the dye and prevent it from fading.

“As the years go by, I’m more and more inspired by the many different designs I have used on the blankets, shawls, bags and pillows. Every project I do is special to me and I strive to do better on each one. I love to weave and I enjoy sharing my work with others whether it’s teaching, or displaying my work.”

Work Samples

Types of Work I Do

Salish Weaving
My Toolkit

more ARC friends on Facebook »