In Nicole’s work, titled Woven, she is presence-ing the power, beauty, and resilience of Indigenous women. The Coast Salish woman depicted in the painting, stands as a symbol of the strength of the Salish people and their communities. She is the essence of Indigenous mothers who have fostered, protected, and revitalized their communities, cultures, traditions, languages and art forms since time immemorial and through to our contemporary reality. The woman is wrapped in a Salish blanket and becomes one with the Salish weaving designs. Weaving has always been a central motif in Nicole’s work, coming from a family of Diné (Navajo) weavers, she has been surrounded by Diné weaving designs her whole life. Due to her strong connection to weaving from her nation, she wanted to highlight the parallels between the matriarchs and weavers in her family and those of the Coast Salish peoples.
The spirit of this work is focused on the people in the land, and the land within the people. The design of this work incorporates the traditional textile motifs of the Coast Salish people and the beauty of their unceded territories.
Woven centres around reclaiming space with an Indigenous presence. The large geometric Coast Salish weaving pattern at the top of the mural is re-establishing the traditional weaving style of this land within City Hall. The wall is transformed into a loom that holds the thread of these conversations, these ideas, and these images. Weaving comes from the land, is intertwined with ceremony and prayer, and connects us to place, histories, and community. Nicole wanted to acknowledge the histories of this land, Lekwungen land, and of the people of this land with these designs. These pieces are therefore just one thread in a larger conversation, asking how we all tie together in these dialogues, how we acknowledge the land we are on.
