about
Bronwyn Butterfield (she/her) is a beadwork artist, whose practice uses beads as a way to move between other materials and processes such as painting, drawing, film, sound, printmaking and organic fibre materials. Beadwork becomes a way of telling stories and understanding recurring themes in her life and surroundings: functionality of beaded objects; dreams, intuition, imagination, and nostalgia; human geography and place-based, site-specific work; identity and the intersection of her prairie roots as both Cree-Métis and settler-European; the perceived dichotomies between urban and natural worlds and colonial thought; and archival family histories and photographs. Her interests are always shifting, her practice guided by curiosity: each piece is an act of listening, asking questions, making space for new ideas to emerge, rather than seeking resolution or certainty.
Bronwyn’s artistic journey began the moment she learned to hold a pencil. She grew up painting and drawing, always drawn to movement, colour, and joy—qualities that continue to shape the way she creates with beads today. Growing up in Winnipeg’s core where she lived for 25 years, she was surrounded by a vibrant urban arts community from a young age, and remains inspired by her dad, an oil painter and former art instructor. Bronwyn first took to beadwork during her undergraduate studies at the University of Winnipeg, joining a weekly Métis beading group as a way to sit with community and find balance amid academic life. In many ways, her artistic path began even earlier, four generations ago, with her cápán (great-grandmother), Sarah Jane McLeod, a silk embroiderer and beadworker; whose patterns Bronwyn continues to use in her own work. Sarah passed these teachings to her children, including Bronwyn’s kokum (grandmother) Mary McLeod, but the practice paused with her father’s generation. Bronwyn’s goal in learning beadwork was to help close that generational gap: to fill the space where those teachings were lost, and to carry them forward to future generations.
After graduating with a BA Hons. in Geography from the University of Winnipeg in 2018, Bronwyn spent six years pursuing her art full-time, before enrolling at the Yukon School of Visual Arts in Dawson City, Yukon. This move was a conscious step towards deepening her practice and giving herself the time and space to explore new directions within her work. During this period post-undergrad, she created her first public art installation at Cinematheque/Artspace in Winnipeg, participated in Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, completed commissions for publications such as Briarpatch and The Walrus, and held her first solo exhibition at the Sointula Art Shed Residency. She also attended the 5-week Kapishkum Métis Artists Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts + Creativity. In between these experiences, Bronwyn’s practice has remained rooted in reciprocity and gifting: teachings passed down to her through beading. Many of her personal works have been gifted or shared, embodying the traditional exchange between hands, stories and community.
Some of Bronwyn's first paintings, created at age 2 (1998).
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Bronwyn Butterfield (she/her) is a beadwork artist currently based in Dawson City, Yukon on Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in territory. She is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1 territory. Her practice moves between beadwork, painting, drawing, film, and sound, using these materials to explore function, dreams, place, identity, and family histories. Rooted in her prairie upbringing, Bronwyn’s work traces stories that live between land and memory. She holds a BA (Honours) in Geography from the University of Winnipeg and is a graduate of the Yukon School of Visual Arts. Guided by curiosity, reciprocity, and gifting, her practice remains an ongoing act of listening, learning, and connection. Bronwyn is mixed European settler and Cree-Métis-Scottish with family ties (McLeod) to Norway House, MB on Treaty 5 territory. She holds current citizenship with the Manitoba Métis Federation.