Jeremy Frey

Jeremy Frey is a Passamaquoddy craftsperson, deeply rooted in the rich traditions of Indigenous weaving. A descendant of a long line of artisans, Frey honed his skills under the guidance of his mother and through an apprenticeship at the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance. Utilising natural materials that he personally forages, such as sweetgrass and black ash wood, Frey has a unique flat weaving technique that maintains the integrity of his traditional methods.

In collaboration with Karma Gallery, Frey has created four distinct artworks at our Rock Tavern workshop, named Twilight, Obsidian, Fine Weave, and Urchin. As a seventh-generation basket maker, Frey continues the legacy of Wabanaki craftsmanship, which celebrates black ash, known as the "basket tree." This material carries historical significance, woven deeply into the Wabanaki connection to the land over thousands of years. By removing bark and splitting growth rings, Frey engages with this living archive, juggling memory with material to create intricately designed pieces that he describes as embodying “holographic mesmerisation.”

Frey showcased his evolving artistic practice in a solo exhibition in New York City titled Permanence, where he ventured into the realm of bronze sculptures for the first time.