Kayla-Jazz Annanack-Lauzon is a multimedia jeweller from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, who creates earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings under the name August Beadwork online.
Annanack-Lauzon began beading at age nine, when she made herself a headpiece with leather and beads. After a community member taught her a number of traditional beading techniques, at around age 14 she began beading steadily and hasn’t stopped since. She has subsequently begun mentoring her cousins—some as young as four—to teach them to bead as well. “I want to be able to pass on my beading knowledge to younger people and anyone who wants to learn,” Annanack-Lauzon says about what drives her [1].
She began selling her work at age 15, creating custom commissions for teachers at her school and selling a range of earrings through local community Facebook pages. After her father passed away, Annanack-Lauzon found that beading was a therapeutic way to help her grieving process. She built up quite an inventory of work, and her sisters encouraged her to set up her own Instagram page from which to sell. The name she settled on, August Beadwork, is for her father, since he was born in August. Her beading remains a way for her to connect with and think of him. “Beading is medicine,” she says.
Her practice has grown over the years to include sealskin, fox fur and caribou antler. Although earrings remain her favourite things to make, Annanack-Lauzon acknowledges that she goes through phases with her materials, latching on to new favourites every few months. She finds inspiration through local beaders in Kuujjuaq, as well as artists online like Lydia Audlaluk (Anouapik Beadwork), who has been a big inspiration for her. The reciprocity of sharing her work in beading community groups online, as well as seeing photos of people wearing her earrings, continues to inspire her to create more.
In the future, Annanack-Lauzon wants to learn how to make beaded tongues for footwear—”It’s something I want to put my patience into,” she says—as well as to build up an inventory of 10.5 inch statement dangle earrings for a future collection drop. She is currently studying nursing at John Abbot College in Montreal, QC, and taking as many custom orders as she is able while balancing her studies. “I just want my beading and knowledge to grow, to learn new things and demonstrate the work that I can do,” she says about what’s next.
This Profile was made possible through support from RBC Emerging Artists.