Photo by Vincent Wolfgang.
Vi Houssin (she/her) is a transgender beadwork artist and drag performer. Her family is of white settler and Red River Métis ancestry. Her Métis family names are Ritchot, Poitras, Larence and Plante, and her ancestors held scrip in St. Vital and St. Boniface. She is a proud member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local and a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Vi works and lives in Winnipeg, Canada on Treaty 1 territory where she was born and raised.
Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores the conventions of beadwork as an artistic medium, and as an expression of my Indigeneity. I use both a traditional Métis two-needle stitch method as well as off-loom beadweaving in my work to honour my Michif heritage and contribute to the proud craft of my ancestors. I seek to continue the legacy of contemporary Indigenous artists who affirm that our craft is art, not just artefact, and challenge the fiction that Métis art and culture are sedentary.
Vi Houssin 