24 1/2" x 28" Framed

1977

Edition 78/100

In 1977, Nuu-chah-nulth artist Art Thompson created a series of prints based on sea creatures that both solidified his status as one of the top Indigenous artists in Canada and ushered in an era of modern Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) design. Colloquially referred to as The Seafood Series, these five prints depicted sea creatures in a playful and unconventional manner. While they display the angularity and forms (such as the star, s-shape, and ovoid) found within traditional Nuu-chah-nulth artwork, they are asymmetrical and animated. Many of the prints that Art created were based on historical Nuu-chah-nulth formline design and subject matter, but The Seafood Series demonstrated his ability to produce something that was new and experimental while still being recognizably West Coast. Comprised of the Mussel, the Barnacle, the Clam, the Halibut, and the Cod Fish, this series represents the Coastal peoples' reverence for sea creatures and the sustenance they provide.  

To the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast, an excellent source of food is the orange flesh of the large mussels that cluster on the rocks of the open coast-line. In ancient times, the mussel shell was utilized for scrapers, knives, chisels and even whale hunting harpoon heads.

Art Thompson’s colourful print portrays, within the orange flesh of the mussel, a spirited creature whose hair becomes the fibres that secure this useful mollusk to the rock. A single blue wave denotes that the tide is in, and thus the mussel is seen with an outstretched tongue, feeding. 

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Artist Biography and Additional Work