There is an amazing exhibition about salmon at the Terrace Art Gallery all this month. I have two pieces in this comprehensive show, entitled the Skeena Salmon Art Show, which was an epic undertaking by organizers/curators Dave Gordon and Cynthia McCreery to compile a vast array of artists and the many creatively expressive approaches to our connection to the Skeena watershed. This has been incredible relevant this year, with a serious depletion of salmon returning to spawn and a major shut-down and further restriction on salmon fishing in our region. There are many factors in this, including fish farms, industrialized disruption, climate change, etc, that I won’t get into here, but it has been clear for many years, and especially to our Indigenous Nations, and supported more recently by scientific studies, how all of our ecosystem and traditional cultural development has been tied very intimately to salmon. The exhibition is both levels of the gallery, and is packed with very striking and thought-provoking work. It is an honour to have my two paintings, Tributary 1 & 2, the square salmon pattern paintings, included in the show. My friends Facundo Gastiazoro, Travis Hebert, and their friend Manda Hugon also worked on an outstanding mural on a wall in Terrace for a week associated with the show!
I haven’t actually made it myself there yet, and so will have to get there before Aug.31st … if you’re in the area, you should too! I’ll add more pictures once I do get there!
Wonderful work…another thought on the Salmon…Salmon are very cyclical — peaking every 3 years…we’re the same with the Sockeye here in Osoyoos Lake, as the fish come up the Columbia river system – to the Okanagan…however, nature always takes care of her own…and every 3 years we have a ‘bumper’ crop…keep up the good work
thanks, Don. That is true. I guess we’ll see in time if this cycle is the cause for this year’s situation.
Agree with Don. This is wonderful work. Hope you get to visit the show before it closes!