Kenojuak Ashevak’s Sun Owl (1963, stonecut on paper) depicts an animal that is symbolically important to the Inuit. | Photo by Scott Massey, SITE Photography; courtesy of City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection
Though their civilizations and art histories are ancient, the technique of printmaking is a relatively recent practice in Northwest Coast (NC) First Nations and Inuit cultures. Recent Acquisitions of First Nations and Inuit Prints, an exhibit of 47 works currently on display at the Burnaby Art Gallery (BAG) until Apr. 6, celebrates the pioneers of printmaking who paved the way for greater awareness and appreciation of indigenous art within the Canadian cultural landscape.
A historical retrospective
Ellen van Eijnsbergen, director and curator of BAG, was thrilled when a gift from private collectors allowed the museum to highlight the 1970’s and 1980’s as a golden era in both the Inuit and NC First Nations printmaking.
Gary Wyatt, co-owner of the renowned Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver which specializes in NC First Nations, Inuit and Maori art, has helped to curate the exhibit. Wyatt explains that though the Inuit in general have had a less diverse artistic practice than the NC First Nations, they have a longer printmaking history. It developed in the 1940’s and 1950’s largely due to the involvement of James Houston, a Canadian-born artist, author and filmmaker.
Inspired by the Japanese woodblock printing tradition, Houston adapted this printing style to the harsh Arctic climate. He introduced the Inuit communities of Cape Dorset (Baffin Island) to a technique of using stone-cut blocks, stencils which distribute the pigment and natural materials like seal skin to create high quality limited edition prints.
In 1959, the first Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection came out, and it featured a piece that is on display at the BAG, Joseph Pootoogook’s Joyfully I See Ten Caribou. With its depiction of a seemingly smiling man with his arms raised, the piece stays true to the tendency of Inuit prints to convey everyday reality.
“First Nations prints are more based on iconographic symbols and shamanism. Inuit works are much more narrative: it’s about their day-to-day life,” says van Eijnsbergen.
Lucy Qinnuayuak’s On the Ocean portrays a seal hunt, while Helen Kalvak’s Haunting Owls and Kenojuak Ashevak’s Sun Owl depict an animal that van Eijnsbergen says holds a great symbolic value in Inuit culture.
Modernizing tradition
When it comes to the NC First Nations portion of the exhibit, the work of legendary Haida artist Bill Reid, among the first to work in printmaking, is included along with prints by Robert Davidson, Beau Dick and Don Yeomans, just to name a few.
Roy Henry Vickers’ Raven With Clam (1975, serigraph on paper) depicts one of the four main Tsimshian crests. | Photo courtesy of Roy Henry Vickers
A true turning point in the professionalism and artistry of NC First Nations printmaking took place through the work of the Northwest Coast Indian Artist Guild and the release of their 1977 and 1978 print series.
“Those prints were the early pieces that kind of woke artists up in the Northwest Coast, and gave us goals to attain…to show people that we have stories and legends that are older than the pyramids in Egypt,” says Roy Henry Vickers, renowned NC First Nations artist who served as the guild’s president.
The BAG exhibit features a number of Vickers’ serigraph (hand-pulled) prints from that era. The Weget Legend honours the traditional story of a man who brought the sun and the moon back to Earth from the chief of heavens.
Raven With Clam depicts the raven as one of the four main Tsimshian crests, yet shows it in motion, which is an innovative take on tradition that Vickers is known for.
“I am using the inspiration of the clans: you give respect to the teachers who helped to make you who you are, but you create from a place of freedom,” says Vickers.
Using a lot of colour is another innovation Vickers is known for, and one that is all the more fascinating since the artist is partially colour-blind.
Looking to the future
Though his guild days are long behind him, printmaking remains the bulk of Vickers’ artistic practice today. He is optimistic about the future of the form, as long as the young artists working today maintain its integrity through drawing by hand rather than resorting to computer generated prints.
As for the Inuit printmaking community, Wyatt mentions that it is currently sitting at crossroads since Kenojuak Ashevak’s passing, with concerted efforts currently being made to branch out beyond the legendary artist’s style.
The BAG exhibit allows us to speculate with excitement what the new generation of printmakers might bring to the table.
“There is a story behind each of these images…It changes sometimes depending on who is telling it,” says van Eijnsbergen.
For more on the Burnaby Art Gallery, visit www.burnaby.ca/Things-To-Do/Arts-and-Heritage/Burnaby-Art-Gallery.html
