TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Wolastoqey

PANEL: Native Arts, Culture, & Technology

BIOGRAPHY
Emma Hassencahl-Perley is a Wolastoqey visual artist, arts writer, educator and curator from Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in New Brunswick. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mount Allison University in 2017. In 2022, she completed a Masters of Art in Art History from Concordia University. Emma's artwork reflects her identity as an ehpit (woman) and a Wolastoqiyik citizen of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Her artistic themes explore water, the cosmos, Wabanaki feminisms, and the Wabanaki double-curve motif, symbolizing life cycles and relationships, including nationhood and community. These motifs serve as both a cultural and aesthetic foundation in Emma's practice, connecting ancestral Wabanaki material culture with contemporary digital storytelling techniques.

In addition to her art practice, Emma is the Curator of Indigenous Art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

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