Collage/Prints

Prints grew from a century of drawing
Works of art on paper have a long history on the Northwest Coast . By the 1870s, artists had begun drawing on paper, largely in response to the requests of anthropologists and other collectors. In 1927, Kwakwaka'wakw artist Charlie James and his granddaughter Ellen Neel painted in watercolor a series of crest figures on paper. Mungo Martin and Henry Speck continued this tradition in the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time a few artists were experimenting with printing multiples of designs. The two-dimensional design system and color separation of Northwest Coast art lends itself to the serigraph technique, squeegeeing ink past a stencil through a stretched silk screen.

Pioneering print artists
A handful of artists such as Robert Davidson (Haida), Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), and Tony Hunt (Kwakwaka'wakw) worked starting in the late 1960s to elevate silk screen printing to a fine art form. This led to the production of high-quality, signed, and numbered limited-edition silk screen prints. Native art training programs such as the Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art in at near Hazelton , British Columbia , have helped to promote the market for prints. Artists such as Stan Greene and Susan Point were the pioneers of Coast Salish printmaking starting in the late 1970s.

Prints are more than a commercial art form

Silk screen prints have become important tools for communication in Northwest Coast Native culture, providing a lens through which artists have been able to focus public attention on pivotal political and environmental issues. Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing today, silk screen prints have been made and used by Native people for ceremonial purposes, and have come to be firmly incorporated into Northwest Coast culture. Within the last 40 years, silk screen prints have become important as potlatch gifts as well as a major source of income for many artists, in some cases helping to fund political and ceremonial activities

Collage/Prints List:

River Monster
Doug Cranmer, Kwakwaka´wakw
Silkscreen print, 1992
Gift of Lloyd J. Averill
Cat. No. 1996-48/1

Killer-Whale Transforming Into a Wolf
Art Thompson, Nuu-chah-nulth (Dit-i-daht)
Silkscreen print, 1986
Gift/Purchase Margaret B. Blackman and Edwin S. Hall, Jr.
Cat. No. 1998-90/993

Untitled
Leslie Wells, Coast Salish
Silkscreen print, 1991
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 1999-151/27

Sisters of the Underworld
Robert Davidson, Haida
Silkscreen print, 1998
Gift of Douglas Jackson
Cat. No. 2002-20/4

Iquamiqq´itx and Salmon
Tony A. Johnson, Chinook (Wakiacum Band)
Silkscreen print, 1991
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2000-148/8

Octopus and Jellyfish
Hyacinth Joe David, Nuu-chah-nulth (Tla-o-qui-aht)
Silkscreen print, 1991
Gift of Douglas Jackson
Cat. No. 2002-20/10

The Gift
Kelly Cannell, Coast Salish (Musqueam)
Silkscreen print, 2001
Gift of Arthur B. Steinman
Cat. No. 2004-2/379

Creations
Manuel Salazar, Coast Salish (Cowichan)
Silkscreen print, 1993
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2004-141/25

A´eght / Lincod
Edward Joe, Coast Salish (Cowichan)
Silkscreen print, 2001
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2005-47/46

Maternal Thunderbird
Shaun Peterson – Qwalsius, Coast Salish (Puyallup/Tulalip)
Silkscreen print, 2000
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2005-47/79

My Spirit Helpers
Andrea M. Wilbur-Sigo, Coast Salish (Squaxin Island)
Silkscreen print, 2005
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2005-47/119

Discovery
Susan Point, Coast Salish (Musqueam)
Silkscreen print, 2005
Gift of Susan Point
Cat. No. 2007-12/2

Halibut
Susan Point, Coast Salish (Musqueam)
Silkscreen print, 2007
Gift of Susan Point
Cat. No. 2007-12/1

Embracing the Moon
Shaun Peterson – Qwalsius, Coast Salish (Puyallup/Tulalip)
Silkscreen print, 2006
Gift of Lauretta Jane Wright
Cat. No. 2006-172/1 

Tlingit World Series #14
Clarissa Hudson, Tlingit
Collage, 2000
Gift of Arthur B. Steinman
Cat. No. 2004-2/394

New Spirit Journey
Roger Fernandes, Coast Salish (S´Klallam)
Collage, 2002
Gift of Simon Ottenberg
Cat. No. 2005-61/1

Charm
Lyle Wilson, Haisla
Engraved intaglio print, 2001
Gift of Arthur B. Steinman
Cat. No. 2004-2/289