Percy Sacobie

[ WABANAKI ARTIST: 2022, 2023]

Art has always been part of Percy Sacobie’s life. A proud Wolastoquey from St. Mary’s First Nation in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Percy has been making art for 25 years in varied media such as painting, drawing, digital media, beading, and carved wood. He began carving in Grade 11, studying under Ned Bear at Fredericton High School. Percy went on to earn diplomas in Aboriginal Visual Arts and Graphic Arts at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, followed by a Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas University and an Education degree from the University of New Brunswick and is currently finishing his M.Ed. at UNB.

Percy’s art uses vivid colours in his depictions of his people, often in action and living harmoniously with the richness of nature: an abundance of trees, flowers, seasons, animals, plant life, and sky. His figures are embellished with traditional Wabanaki double curve motifs and beadwork patterns; the double curves are arranged on their clothing in clusters evoking togetherness of family and community. Profoundly immersed in his culture, Percy finds inspiration in historic images and materials: regalia beadwork, carvings on canoe paddles, and from the land that he acknowledges “our ancestors mastered.”