we tend to care | Carrie Allison
February 6 – March 28, 2026
we tend to care | Nikisisawéniténán
Onókohtáw Carrie Allison
Curated by / Okanawénihcikéw Franchesca Hebert-Spence
Reception: Fri, Feb. 6 – 5-9 pm
Artist Talk: Wed, Feb. 11 – 7-8:30 pm at the Winnipeg Art Gallery
Beadwork Gathering: Wed, Feb. 4th – 5:30-8:00 pm
Grass exists firmly within the mundane. Yet, it has such an emotional hold within our imagination. For example, the weekend whine of lawnmowers in the distance correlates to a middle-class aspiration. There are candles and air fresheners that mimic a “fresh cut grass” scent, signalling cleanliness. Allison’s ambitious beaded pieces parallel the absurd amount of labour and time that goes into maintaining yards, lawns, gardens, and agricultural spaces.
In doing so, Allison’s work confronts these social constructs and addresses how these spaces uphold and are upheld by class, colonialism, and nationalism. She takes this critique to the absurd with her use of digital media to extrapolate what those systems will evolve into if left unchecked.
Allison offers alternatives to those futures by tracing riverways in beads, replacing cold extractive botanical sketches with portrayals of kin, or looking for shared intergenerational spaces.
Through these portraits, visiting, and memory, we tend to care considers the connections Allison has to place – Grande Prairie being her maternal family’s territory, and demonstrates how she cares and nurtures those bonds.
Within the juxtaposition of family, land, space, and colonial critique, Allison poses the question: where are we putting our labour and for whose benefit?
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Maskosiy maskawastéw ita ká-nókwahk. Máka kahkinaw kékwán ohcitaw kimósihoskákonaw ékota ohci. Tápiskóc, ká-tépihtamahk kískisikéwin, kikiskéniténánaw, ana ka-tépihtawáyahk, e-tipénimisot. Ká-isimákwahk maskosiy, akwáni tápiskóc wíhkimáhkahon, iténitákwana akwa mína tápiskóc péhkihowin. Allison omíkisistahikana, kinowés ká-nócohtát kita kísihtát, akwáni tápiskóc maskosiya, kistikánisa, akwa anihi kakistikániwahki.
Ékosi é-isi-nókohtát Allisson otatoskéwin, kotakiya isihcikémakana, ati nókwana mihcét isihcikéwinwa ká-kí-ohcipaniki, ká-itenimikawiyahk. Otinam óho ká- iténimikawiyahk, akwa kakwé nókohtáw isihcikéwina, akwa kita mísko isihcikániwahk kisáspin éka kwéski isíhcikaniwahki.
Allison nawasónam pítos towa níkánihk isihcikéwin tápiskóc ká-isi-pimitisahikátéki sípiya, é-masinistahikániwahk, akwa é-mískotastát, ká-isi-kinawápamikawiyahk wístawáw kiwáhkomákanának.
Apácihtáw omasinipéhikana, okikisowina, akwa okiyóhikéwina, wí-kakwé kikinam ihtáwina akwa ohcíwináhk –Kihci Maskotéw ká-ohcínit okáwiya owáhkomákana akwa otaskiywáw, kita isi kisténitahk óho wáhkóhtowina.
Ká-isi-tipénitákosiyahk, askiy akwa isi ayáwinihk, Allison kakwécihkémow: tánté astáyahk kitatoskéwinaw akwa awéna ékota kita ohci minonpanihiikot?
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Biography | Carrie Allison
My name is Carrie Allison (nêhiýaw/Métis/mixed European descent) I am a multidisciplinary visual artist based in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). My Métis and nêhiýaw family names are: Beaudry, Surprenant, Noskeye, and Payiw; my maternal roots and relations are based in and around maskotewisipiy (High Prairie, Alberta), Treaty 8.
I grew up on the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
I hold a Master in Fine Art, a Bachelor in Art History, and a Bachelor in Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
I was the 2020 recipient of the Melissa Levin Award from the Textile Museum of Canada and was long listed for the 2024 and 2021 Sobey Art Award. My work has been shown in Canadian Art, Elle Quebec, Esse and Visual Arts News.
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Carrie Allison nína (nêhiýaw/ Ápihtawkosán akwa Akamaskíhk ohci Anisiniwak). Misiwé nitisi masinipéhikán óté K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Nitápihtawkosán akwa akwa nêhiýaw isinihkásowinána: Beaudry, Surprenant, Noskeye, akwa Payiw; Nikáwiy itéhké ká ohciyán Maskotéwi Sípiy (High Prairie, Alberta), Asotamákéwin Éyinánéw (Treaty 8.)
Ispáhké kiskinwáhamákéwin (masinipéhinikéwinihk) nikí-kísihtán oté ispahké kiskinwáhamátowikamikohk (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) NItatoskéwin misiwé akíhk nókwan.
Nikí-mínikawin paskinákéwin (Melissa Levin, Textile Museum of Canada Textile Museum of Canada, Askiy 2020, akwa mína nikí níkániskán mínikowin, Sobey Askiya 2024 akwa 2021. Nitatoskéwin kí-nókohtániwan Kánata Masinipéhikéwinhk, Quebecohk, Esse akwa Nókohtáwina Wíhtamákéwinihk.
Adjunct Programming:
Beaders Gathering with Carrie Allison & Franchesca Hebert-Spence
Date: Wednesday, February 4th
Time: 5:30-8:30 pm
Location: Urban Shaman – 203-290 McDermot Ave.
Join Carrie Allison & Franchesca Hebert-Spence for an evening of beading together with food and tea. Bring your own project or start a new one using beads and materials supplied by the gallery! Admission is drop-in and free for everyone.
Artist & Curators Conversation | Winnipeg Art Gallery
Date: Wed, Feb 11, 2026
Time: 7-8:30pm/ FREE
Location: WAG-Qaumajuq – Muriel Richardson Auditorium – 300 Memorial Boulevard
Join artist Carrie Allison, Franchesca Hebert-Spence, curator of we tend to care, and Marie-Anne Redhead, WAG-Qaumajuq Assistant Curator of Indigenous & Contemporary Art, in a candid panel discussion. The conversation will cover Allison’s practice, the ideas behind we tend to care, how these ideas can be activated in the community, and how the exhibition-within-an-exhibition engages – or intervenes – with the Winnipeg Art Gallery permanent collection artworks.