Northwest Coast Art Gets Contemporary
Northwest coast art dates back thousands of years, with distinctive styles developing along the coast from Oregon to Alaska. The bold, stylized designs of traditional northwest coast native art are recognized worldwide, but native artists, like any other artists, produce art that’s dynamic and always evolving.
Today, contemporary native artists are keeping the tradition alive by combining the old with the new. Their art is an evolving exploration of new techniques, materials and mediums that push the boundaries of expression and challenge viewers' expectations of Northwest Coast art. The result is modern, refreshing and youthful, yet steeped in tradition. We invite you to take another look—or take one for the first time.
Francis Dick - 4 Phases of the Moon
“Contemporary art is more exciting. It gives me the freedom to express what is happening in my life. I don’t know how my art is going to evolve, but I know that it will change.”
Influences: Beau Dick, William Wasden, Don Yeoman, and Roy Vickers for his usage of colour.
4 Phases of the Moon is now available for sale.
Mark Preston - Horizons of the Past and Present
“Although I continue to do traditional work, I prefer to work with new materials in abstract ways using elements of the traditional styles. Like life, all things must eventually change...whatever form my art may take, I have no idea. Whatever it is I look forward into the future and see if I can adapt to those times as well as I have in the past.”
Influences: Robert Davidson, Phil Janze, Mark Rothko, Roy Vickers, as well as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Picasso. (“The list continues to grow as I begin to see all things in my life with an increasingly open mind.”)
Horizons of the Past and Present is now available for pre-order. Release date is mid April. Please contact for more details.
Rande Cook - Dzunukwa
“Kwakiutl, or Kwakwaka’wakw art has always been evolving because of the essence behind it. It is considered to be alive. Therefore it needs to grow. Kwakwaka’wakw artists have been the most innovative artists on the coast using colours beyond traditional, transformation masks more elaborate than any other and an expression in the form seen in no other. Kwakwaka’wakw artists have never really been traditional for they have been evolving since the early days. Bill Reid was quoted as saying that the Kwakiutl were explosive. If there was a colour, they used it.”
Influences: Bob Harris, Charlie James, Doug Cranmer, Willie Seaweed, Beau Dick, Wayne Alfred, Francis Dick, William Wasden Jr., and Calvin Hunt.
Dzunukwa is now available for pre-order. Release date is March 31st. Please contact for more details.
