Sandra Hollett
b. 1994 Corner Brook, NL
Sandra Hollett is a determined, outgoing and very energetic recent graduate from the Fine Arts program at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook, and, coincidentally, the daughter of my first cousin. But this isn’t why I chose her. My belief is that if a person, no matter their age, is willing to enroll in an art program and further their education, then that alone is a testament to the future of Inuit art and something to be noted and celebrated. Sandra is the kind of artist who is very willing to try new and different techniques. She has sewn, thrown, painted and printed pieces of art that all hold Inuit ways and traditions in them. To me, her work is a prime example of something that I have been talking about in my own career since I started: even though some artworks may not look Inuit, that is beside the point. The fact is if an artwork is made by an Inuk, it is Inuit art. Sandra is always thinking of ways she can incorporate new ideas into her work while also injecting them with old traditions. The Inuit art world needs young people like Sandra to keep stories, traditions and ways alive. They may not look the same or have the same purpose, but that is what art is about—incorporating new ideas and ways. Because of young people like Sandra, we can be sure that that will happen.