Jobena Petonoquot

Flowing primarily from the teachings of her maternal grandfather of Anishinaabe and Irish descent, her practice emphasizes resilience and pride in her Aboriginal identity as well as the defense of traditional values. Through beadwork technique and photography, she creates narrative works that take a critical and sensitive look at Canada’s colonial history, while highlighting the beauty of her culture and love of the land. Jobena perceives beadwork as a somewhat violent act, as the needle pierces the fabric it can yield something so beautiful; it’s a metaphor for the cyclical patterns of life.

Jobena Petonoquot is of Algonquin ancestry, from Kitigan Zibi, Quebec. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History with a minor in Photography from Concordia University. She has presented her work in exhibitions and events in Quebec, Canada and the United States. She has also taken part in Walking with our Sisters, a project that commemorated the lives of missing & murdered Indigenous women. In 2018, she was the winner of the Impressions Residency at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Her work has been collected by the Indigenous Art Centre and the Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec.

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