Penny Kagigebi

White Earth Ojibwe (descendant)

Funded in part by a 2014 Anishinaabe Arts Grant through the Region 2 Arts Council, Penny spent a week learning quillwork and quillbox construction from renown Ojibwe artist Melvin Losh. Quillboxes have been made as storage containers by Woodlands Indians since the beginning of time - birch bark preserving foods and medicines, sweet grass repelling insects, and porcupine quill “embroidered” designs providing identification of the contents. 

Today Penny makes what she calls “slow art” – durable quillboxes painstakingly produced through uncountable hours and intense attention to detail. She has been told her work demonstrates an ethereal quality, allowing one to hold the sacred beauty of the natural world in the palm of their hand.

Statement about new work  

Mashkikiiwaabigwaniin Canister Set – Bezhig – (Medicine Flowers Canister Set – One –) 

Referred to by the artist as mini-quillbox canisters, this set begins a new, or perhaps old, variation on quillboxes generally seen today. Each are constructed with friction-fit for utility however these feature a “jar lid” opening. This re-imagined construction design has been developed over the past two years and is exhibited here for the first time.  

Designed around and titled “Medicine Flowers” to honor mashkiki (strength of the earth) gifted to Anishinaabeg everywhere. Reflecting a shift in the artist’s design work, the “trails” chasing around each canister represent Ojibwe-cultural respect for the differences and individuality found in each human being.