Best in show at Ganondagan

Kahnawake beader Candace Snook was just happy to be one of the artists featured at the seventh edition of the Ganondagan State Historic Site’s Hodinöhsö:ni’ Art Show – in no way did she think she’d be the winner of “best in show” for her beadwork, even after having won second and third-place ribbons in the past.

“It’s just always an honour to have your work accepted there, because there are so many pieces that get submitted in the application process, and they’re only able to take about half of them,” said Snook.

“Once I got to the art show and I saw the work that was on display by the other artists, it made me feel even more honored, because the quality of work and the creativity and the pieces that were there were really outstanding.”

Kristin Asche, interpretive programs assistant at the historic site’s Seneca Art & Culture Center, said that this year’s exposition was one of the best she’s seen.

“The show was a huge success. I think that it was some of the best work that we’ve seen from within the Haudenosaunee community. Each year keeps getting better and better,” said Asche.

Snook said the moment of inspiration for the pieces she submitted – a beaded pair of earrings, a bracelet, and a purse, made in part with 24-carat gold beads, that features honeycomb patterns and a wampum, in the themes of spring, bees, and honey – first came in a pattern-making class she was taking.

In particular, the honeycomb pattern stuck with her.

“Once I started on the design, and I came up with this honeycomb kind of shape, I just went with it, and I spent the rest of that class just designing the whole purse itself. The ideas were flowing really quickly,” said Snook.

This sort of beadwork was a new experience for her, as she usually does beadwork on canvas as opposed to wearable pieces.

Making the handle of the purse out of stringed-together wampum beads, as well as making it removable to wear it in a crossbody style, were also new challenges for her.

Although it was difficult at first, it was ultimately a very rewarding experience.

“It was a goal that I had set for myself last year, that I was going to push myself out of my comfort zone to try something new,” said Snook.

“I had to do a lot of trial and error, cutting things off and redoing them, but once everything really came together, it was definitely rewarding. I really feel like I learned a lot of new techniques, and I really grew as an artist in doing this project.”

Asche said she was very impressed with Snook’s work.

“I do beadwork myself. I’m still in the beginning stages, so to speak. So, I’m always impressed with anyone’s beadwork that we accept into our show. But just the amount of time and dedication that it takes for a set like that, let alone just one piece, that’s really impressive,” said Asche.

She especially praised Snook’s strong thematic link between the pieces, as well as the nods to traditional beadwork techniques in a more modern usage.

In general, Asche said that traditional methods and styles are making a comeback in these kinds of shows, either incorporated with modern styles like Snook’s work or as standalone, purely traditional pieces.

“I think there’s a lot of intrigue and desire for that to come back. So, I’m hoping, maybe this time next year, we’ll see a lot more of those traditional pieces.”

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