Didactic

by Julia Lafreniere

Humans are not separate from, but are one with the land, the water, and the sky. Humans are not at the top of a hierarchy; animals are our relatives, our similarities being more than ourdifferences.

Landfear is a rejection of a common teaching to only bead when you are feeling happy, patient, and well. In this body of beadwork, Vi Houssin explores uncomfortable and uncertain human emotion.

Landfear interrogates the relationship between self and land.

Can you love the land and loathe yourself?
Can you harm the earth without hurting yourself?
Can you harm yourself without hurting the earth?

Landfear is a merging of body and land to convey the idea that humans are inextricably molded by our environments. These ideas are frightening, ominous, and potentially disgusting; they are an expression of fear, inherent connection, and comfort with the unknown.

The beauty of fear

by Jen Zoratti for the Winnipeg Free Press
November 27, 2025
Print

Métis beadwork artist Vi Houssin captures feeling evoked by increasingly imbalanced world.

Métis beadwork artist Vi Houssin captures feeling evoked by increasingly imbalanced world.

Interview with Derek Brueckner

for Eat Your Arts & Vegetables on CKUW 95.9
November 20, 2025
Radio

Metis artist expresses fear and uncertainty through beadwork

by Nadia Kidwai for CBC Radio
November 1, 2025
Radio

Vi Houssin, a Metis beadwork artist, tells host Nadia Kidwai about her first ever solo exhibition and why she wanted to challenge a common beading teaching by exploring darker emotions with her art.