Rubinski Works: Design by Legacy
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A local artist specializes in metalsmithing and beadwork to create works inspired by her ancestry.
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Madison Holler grew up surrounded by a family of artisans. “When I was a little kid, I just assumed everyone had a craft,” she says. “My mom, dad, aunts, and uncles all had studios where they practiced their passions—like re-caning chairs, stained glass work, antique furniture restoration, moccasin making, beading, what have you. I just thought that when you grew up, you had a day job, and you had art on the side.”
Holler would go on to dabble in myriad mediums, including painting, woodworking, graphic design, photography, and ceramics, and use art therapy and repetitive crafts as treatment and meditation to calm her ADHD and OCD. “I never stopped,” she says.
Today, while she says she’ll never really pick a lane, she’s made a name for herself through the business she runs under the moniker Rubinski Works. Her bread and butter is one-of-a-kind glass and metal seed bead art and jewelry that blends her Anishinaabe, Scandinavian, and Dutch heritages.
So many of her experiences are informed by her cultural background and what her family instilled in her. “Both sides of my family crossed over a lot, learning each other’s trades and creating a beautiful cultural mix of my Indigenous, European, and Scandi DNA,” says Holler, who draws on the synchronicities found in traditional Scandinavian embroidery and Native Ojibwe beading techniques to inform her folklore designs. “It’s a really cool exchange.”
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Nature is also an important driving muse. Motifs ingrained in her work nod to the landscapes, flora, and fauna found in both central Minnesota’s Wahpekute and Anishinabewaki lands (where Holler grew up) and scenes from her cabin in Ontario.
Through each collection, which can take several weeks to complete, Holler believes there should be an energetic exchange between the creator and the person who gets the beadwork. “I always say there’s prayer in every bead,” she says. “I mean that on a spiritual level—I’m putting prayer and hopes for the wearer in every stitch, hopefully resulting in a piece that will last a lifetime.”
A forewarning: Holler’s creations sell incredibly fast. She feels fortunate to have the camaraderie and community of people who have shown up to support her. “That’s the way it’s always been in Indigenous circles,” she notes. “I always think about the aunties and uncles that I had on the powwow circuits who always knew their customers. I feel like I have that but on an internet level.”
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Rubinski Works: Design by Legacy
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