Traditional Native American art meets vintage streetwear in artwork by Renita Coursey, now at the Delaware Division of the Arts' Mezzanine Gallery.
Coursey is a Delaware native and part of the Nanticoke Tribe. Returning to the First State a few years ago after a tour in the Navy and time in college, she began to regrow her roots in Delaware, including immersing herself in her heritage.
“Just reconnecting with the tribe, getting involved in the powwows, getting involved in learning beadwork. It just kind of all snowballed into one another and kind of led me to get inspired to create my own brand, which is called the Nanticoke Native," she says.
For her beadwork, Coursey sources materials from a variety of places, with a commitment to buying supplies from indigenous suppliers when she can. And, while staying close to traditional forms, she also wants to deliver innovative creations.
“I like to play and push boundaries with, okay, what would it look like if - outside of the powwow circle, of course - I made a pair of beaded moccasins that look like Nikes," she says.
In her art, Coursey says, she leans on both millenia of craftspeople, current artists, and those close to her for inspiration.
“It's bigger than me," she says. "I don't want it to be all about me, and what I want it to be about things that are important to me, which are people, people that I love.”
Coursey’s exhibition, “The Garden,” is on display at the Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington’s Carvel State Office Building through December 26. Admission is free. For more information on the exhibition and gallery hours, visit the Delaware Div.of the Arts website.
More of Coursey's work is online at her website.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
