“You can have an interaction with nature—which is also an interaction with life and death and reciprocity—without exploitation.” – Ilegvak October 14, @forgeprojectny executive director @candicebhopkins joined in conversation with 2022 Fellow Ilegvak, Peter Williams (Yup’ik), to learn more on his current work and process of fish-skin sewing. Yup’ik culture embodies reciprocity between the human, plant, animal and spiritual worlds. Ilegvak assumes personal responsibility for this reciprocity by practicing an Alaska Native art form severely disrupted by settler colonialism: skin sewing. Mastery of this craft enabled his ancestors to survive in an unforgiving climate, utilizing the potential of its animals beyond their rich value as a food source. Colonial ecocide and forced assimilation paused the intergenerational transmission of this knowledge for skins of various species we formerly worked with, particularly fish. Ilegvak is now in the process of rediscovering this once life-sustaining craft and adapting it into culture-sustaining art and advocacy. Ilegvak is a culture bearer, artist, designer, filmmaker, and educator based in Sheet’ká (Sitka), Alaska. His hand-sewn works repurpose skin from self-harvested traditional foods, bridging worlds of Indigenous art, fashion, and subsistence. Ilegvak has completed artist residencies at Santa Fe Art Institute and Institute of American Indian Arts, and has guest lectured and/or taught skin sewing at Yale University, Stanford University, UCLA, Portland Art Museum, and Alaska State Museum, among others. Watch the entire conversation via the #LinkInBio