Michelle Sound

Vancouver, British Columbia

Michelle Sound, Every Photo I Have Of My Mother, 2024. Cyanotypes on elk hide drums, Large drum 50.8 cm, smaller drums 36 cm. Photo: NK Photo.

Studio: How would you describe your approach to your medium? What made you choose it?

Michelle Sound: I have been making drums for 15 years and I started by making elk and deer hide drums and painting and dying them and in 2018 I started making rabbit fur drums that I dyed pastel colours in a series called Trapline. In 2021, I began a series of drums called Auntie drums and they were made out of textiles like rabbit fur and upcycled materials such as denim jackets and leather fringe, and they were about Auntie style and having fun and expressing yourself with fashion. In 2023 I began making a series of cyanotype prints on elkhide drums. I really liked the idea of using natural materials like the hide and the botanicals and the sun to make these prints  I was making records of a time and place using botanicals and flowers and traditional Indigenous medicines, like sage, sweetgrass and tobacco. I was also making some cyanotype drums with photos that were layered with flowers and medicines. I wanted to create a series called every photo I have of my mother and I didn't want to paint it so I wanted to come up with a way where I could have her image on a drum and have it be more photo based and so I experimented and tried cyanotype which worked great.

Michelle Sound, Atima Atchakosuk, the Dog Stars, 2024. Cyanotype elk hide drums wood frame and sinew, 60 cm. Photo: Sean Fenzl.

S: How would you describe yourself, personally and professionally?

MS: I am a Cree and Métis artist and a single mom. I also work in post secondary and am my mom's live-in caretaker. I'm super busy and I have to be very organized to find the time to create my art. Making art and playing around with new materials and going to art galleries and travelling are the things that I get to do for me and are what inspires me the most.

Michelle Sound, NDN Aunties, 2021. Denim jacket, leather fringe, leather jackets, dyed rabbit fur, metallic leather, pins, beadwork, wood drum frames and artificial sinew. Dimensions variable, 20 - 60 cm.

S: What inspires you?

MS: I think there's a lot of very different things that inspire me like a certain aesthetic that I use in my work, a certain colour aesthetic, I love working with pastels and bright colours.  The materials that I use, like caribou tufting, porcupine quills, elkhide and beadwork are really fun and I love working with them. I love, love, sourcing new materials. I am also really interested in archives and history. I'm really inspired by family history, collecting and using photos and stories.

Michelle Sound, NDN Aunties (detail), 2021.  Denim jacket, Aunty Magic Pin, Mad Aunty-Joi Arcand, wood drum frames and artificial sinew.  Dimensions variable, 20 - 60 cm.

S: What do you see as your contribution to the field of your craft?

MS: I think I am always trying to work with the shape, and the idea of a drum. I like the idea that a drum is the heartbeat of the people and that it can also be used as a gift to honour someone.  I think I'm just really drawn to the circular shape of them and I'm just trying every different kind of way that I can make them,  like using fur or textiles or cyanotypes and just really pushing the materiality of a drum and have it reference a drum because they're not always playable. I'm really just thinking  of different ways that I can make them that haven't been done before.

Michelle Sound, 80s Brat, 2023. Repurposed denim, fringe, cotton, faux fur and leather. Dimensions variable, 20 - 56 cm.

S: What wisdom do you want to impart to younger makers?

MS: I think it's really important to make the art you want to make and not what is expected of you. I was told not to make my work so personal or viewers would not be able to relate but that is what inspired me and what I wanted to make and it's just important to remember that art is not a mirror and that art can resonate with people for a variety of reasons.

Michelle Sound
instagram: @michellesound.art
website: michellesound.art/

This article was published in the Fall/Winter 2025-2026 issue of Studio Magazine.