A Council of Dolls Beadwork Art Print

A Council of Dolls Beadwork Art Print

$40.00

by Holly Young (Dakota)

Inkjet print on acid-free card stock. Digital reproduction, floral appliqué beadwork on blue velvet. Featured on the cover of the book, A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power, 2023 HarperCollins.

Dimensions: 8-1/2” x 11”

Enclosed in a protective sleeve. Reinforced with acid-free backing board.

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I recently asked Holly how did HarperCollins come to choose her art for the cover of A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power? Holly said she follows Mona on Facebook. Because they are both from Standing Rock and also because Holly had been looking for some information on Mona’s great-grandma, Nellie Gates-Two Bears, who was also a prolific beadworker in her time, Mona and Holly had become connected. Holly says she believes the publishing company asked Mona for her favorite beadworkers and Mona named Holly. HarperCollins told Holly they were looking for floral designs, so she sent several designs over to them. When she didn’t hear from them for a while “I remembered I had this beaded floral on blue velvet, so sent that over and I received an immediate reply. That’s how it went. So it wasn’t created solely for the book, which is opposite of The Seed Keeper, which was created specifically for that book.” —Carolyn 7/2023

  • Holly Young (Standing Rock Dakota) is an artist who describes herself as someone who "practices traditional mediums using contemporary vision and inspiration." Ledger art has its roots in what is referred to as winter count, which was a way in which Plains tribes kept track of their history through pictographic drawings on hide, muslin, rock, tipi covers and robes. Winter count was traditionally done by men. In the 19th century the drawings evolved: instead of hide and rock, the drawings were being done on paper, often ledger or account books with pencil, ink and watercolor. Some of the most famous ledger drawings were done at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida by Plains warriors who were imprisoned there. The drawings were not only records of major historical events but memories of their former lives as warriors, horsemen, hunters, and also day to day observations from their perspective as prisoners in a foreign landscape. Over time, ledger art has become adapted as a fine art and Holly is one example of a female artist breaking into this art form. It’s interesting to note her drawings are mostly of women and the expressiveness of their postures, regalia and other adornments. Holly grew up in Fort Yates, North Dakota and currently resides in Bismarck, North Dakota. Holly Young exhibits at the Santa Fe Indian Market. She was a Native American Artist in Residence at the Minnesota Historical Society where she studied their Dakota beadwork collection. Her quillwork purse, Floral Legacy, was purchased by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and was chosen as a featured work in their annual Art in Bloom exhibition.

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