Past Now

 

I had a recent exhibition of my work, I exhibited with Meryl McMaster.  She is first nations photographer, for this exhibition she fused pictures of herself with old Curtis photographs.  The exhibition was called Past Now, I had four pieces in the show; “Evolution” my totem pole, “Obsession, Desire” a panel, “A brief history of Northwest coast design” an installation piece and a new piece called “transformation mask” which is as good as calling it “Untitled” because it is a transformation mask.

The curators were Lisa Meyers and Suzanne Morisette, they did a good job, I thought Meryl and my work worked well together.  The idea of past now fits, Meryl ghosting herself with the Curtis photo’s and my work though traditional in style comes from a contemporary place, our work is past now.

The new piece “transformation mask” is the first transformation mask I have ever created.  For this reason I used the Eagle(Laxgiik), my crest, and the beaver, my main sub-crest, on the inside.  It was a lot of fun, I haven’t worked under that kind of pressure in a long time.  I miss the days when I would carve seven days a week for ten hours a day, I spend a lot more time here in Toronto being an artist rather than creating art.