Chantelle Andersen - StraightUpNorth.ca

Inuit Community of Makkovik, Labrador, Canada
CHANTELLE ANDERSEN
Chantelle Andersen is a textile artist from Makkovik.
She is a graduate of the textiles program in St John’s,
Newfoundland, where she majored in weaving and
surface embellishment. She enjoys working with
traditional items and making them contemporary
one-of-a-kind pieces. Some of Chantelle’s craftwork
uses machine embroidery, and she also has
experience with beadwork and working with
moosehide. Her work has been featured in three
fashion shows, including “Northern Lights” in the
national capital, and two exhibitions. Chantelle is
starting to work more with sealskin, and continues to
experiment with materials and design. She offers
classes at the Makkovik Craft Centre, where she
teaches what she knows, and encourages others to
teach their own craft skills.
For the International Society of Ethnobiology Congress in Bhutan, Chantelle has made an
amautik. This is a traditional Inuit coat with a curve in the front, and a long tail in the back. It
is traditionally worn in church and for celebrations, and usually features designs, bands,
embroidery and beadwork. Chantelle’s amautik is made in a traditional white colour, and has
red bands with hand-embroidered designs of redberries, an important berry in Labrador.