Is this not a gorgeous, entirely arresting, awe-inspiringly beautiful peice? Thinking about pieces for this blog assignment, I was drawn to either taking a native basket or a blanket as an aestheti…
The symmetrical with the asymmetrical...this limited edition and signed silkscreen print depicts the quintessential Northwest Coast Indigenous 'Raven and Light' design. Measuring 27 inches tall by 21 inches wide, this print has been created by Kwakwaka'wakw artist Karla West and comes unframed. This is the story that this print depicts: Many Nations along the Northwest Coast of British Columbia share this story, though details will vary between families, communities, and Nations. At the beginning of time, the whole world was shrouded in darkness. All the world’s light was being kept inside of a bentwood box by an old man living in with his daughter in a large house. The man kept the light as his most prized treasure, and other beings in the world – like Raven – were not pleased with the difficulty of fumbling around in constant darkness. The man’s daughter would go to the river each day to gather drinking water, and when Raven had decided to remedy the situation, he transformed himself into a hemlock needle and dropped into the river just as the woman was gathering water. When she took a drink of water, Raven as hemlock needle slipped inside her mouth. Raven then transformed again into the form of a child and slept for some time. When Raven was born of the woman in child form, he had strange features; a beak like nose, and feathers sprouting from his body. In the darkness, however, his ‘grandfather’ could not see these markers. Raven began begging the man to play with his prized bentwood box and the light kept within. The man initially refused, but the Raven Child was insistent and cried and wailed until the man acquiesced. The man opened the box and produced from within a warm glowing orb which he tossed to the Raven Child. While this was happening, Raven transformed back into his true form to catch the orb. Once the orb was in Raven’s mouth, he flew through the smoke hole and took the light up into the cosmos where it remains today. In some versions of this story, the Raven drops some of the light and scatters the stars across the sky or drops the light chipping a piece off and giving us the moon.
The Indigenous arts of North America collection represents the artistic works of nearly every tribe across the United States and Canada and all artistic traditions created within these cultures f
Preston Singletary, a Native American of the Tlingit People, creates unique sculptures informed by the stories, images, and art traditions of his people.
My grandparents have two postcards with this scene, which were mailed from Toledo, Lincoln County, Oregon, on the Oregon coast, to my great-great-grandmother Harriet Birdie Raines Palmer. The only somewhat legible date seem to be Dec. 7, 1908. Most importantly, a penciled note on one of the cards identifies the women in the picture as "Mollie Bensal and Mother."
Since 1986, Lattimer Gallery in Vancouver has showcased work by Northwest Coast artists, carrying everything from silver jewelry and woven baskets to bentwood boxes and totem poles.
