Alison Berkshire
Kwakwaka'wakw
(1962)
Born in Alert Bay, British Columbia, Alison Berkshire is a Kwakwaka’wakw artist producing button blankets which are traditionally worn by women during Potlatch ceremonies to demonstrate the ancestry and status of the wearer. She became interested in button blankets in 1988, and started crafting her own in 1990.
Often, the production of button blankets is a collaborative process, with one person designing the blanket and another crafting it. Berkshire’s first works were designed by her brother, Eugene Isaac. She then transitioned to designing and crafting her own creations. Her works are made from melton wool and embellished with a variety of materials such as abalone, shell buttons, sequins, beads, and akoya. Each blanket is incredibly detailed, sometimes including up to 5,000 individual embellishments on a single piece.
