Raven
Giclée
Edition 200
Released January 2010
Primary: Available
In Northwest Coast mythology, the raven is often labelled the “trickster.” There are countless stories revolving around this majestic black bird. In many of them, the raven is portrayed as mischievous and always getting into trouble. If you are to look at a raven today, you can see these traits coming out. From using its curiosity to probe unknown items to flying circles around eagles merely to bug them, the raven is, indeed, a trickster.
Freestyle skiers, I believe, are the tricksters of the slopes. They approach moguls and jumps with an insatiable quest for doing the impossible. Daffys, Cossacks, Backscratchers, and Iron Crosses are common in their parlance. They fly through the air, contorting their bodies to turn in ways that look unnatural. Their knees absorb the pounding of the moguls as they make their way downhill. The freestyle skier is, indeed, a trickster.
I’ve chosen to include this print in the Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection which pays homage to the winter sports that take place in my hometown and all over much of British Columbia. The background image of the raven is done in respect of my Coast Salish ancestry and represents a spindle whorl design. The spindle whorl, I feel, is the perfect metaphor for weaving together our worlds.
The prints in this series bring together the four worlds present in our First Nations belief structure: The sky world represented by the dawning of a new day. The land world to which all the athletes in these images belong. The sea world evoked through the frozen waves of snow & ice. The spirit world guiding the athletes and giving them the characteristics of our sacred animals.
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