Indigenous Expressionist Haisla Collins
We traveled down East Hastings to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in search of Raven’s Eye Studio and to meet with Haisla Collins. Haisla (pronounced H-eyes-la) is an accomplished mixed media artist in the mediums of painting, screen printing and drawing, and she is also a blues musician and bead worker. She wanted to share with us a mural which is painted on the side of the building where the Raven’s Eye Studio is located. She and several other artists were commissioned to do “Through the Eye of the Raven” in 2010. The mural is epic and left Gary and I awestruck in its presence. For the people of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside it represents a beautifully orchestrated community effort. Although Haisla and her painting peers collaborated on the subject of the urban aboriginal experience, they also drew ideas from the people living in the community and their personal interpretation of it. The cement canvas consists of all the different parts that make up the whole First Nations community; the people, the neighbourhood, the buildings, nature, animals, traditions, culture and history. It represents pride, hope and unity. If you ever find yourself in the 400 block on the south side of East Hastings be sure to look up, way up as you won’t want to miss it; nor can you.
Amberlith cut titled "A Piece of Me"
Self Portrait
After leaving Raven’s Eye Studio, we walked down a couple of blocks to the Carnegie Community Center which is located on the corner of Main and Hastings in Downtown’s Eastside. The community center was built in the 1800′s and is an incredible piece of historical architecture. It was likely occupied by various other organizations and perhaps businesses in its past but I wonder if it was ever bustling with as much life and activity as it is now. Haisla recently started a job there doing what she loves; art. She teaches people in the community how to paint while researching and strengthening her own skills and giving strength to others at the same time.
Click the thumbnails below to see a larger image of Haisla’s work.
- Amberlith cut for screen printing
- Eating the World
- From Different Worlds
- The Habit Catcher inspired by a short story from Theo Collins, Haisla’s dad
- Different Perspectives
- Two colour screen print
Haisla describes her work as indigenous expressionism. She is facinated by the connections between people and the interconnectedness of their internal and external environments. Her influences include Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh as well as more traditional artists like Bill Reid and Lyle Wilson. Her paintings are such that your eyes are drawn to them even if your gaze was elsewhere. When I asked her where her ideas came from she simply stated that she focuses on themes and what attracts her interest at the time. As well, she has a system in place for managing her creativity; when she is feeling creative, she sketches her images one by one and when she is not feeling particularly creative she finishes them. For Haisla, visual art and music have been her outlets for expressing herself in regards to her own experiences as well as her interpretation of other peoples experiences. Having said that, she is also very pragmatic about it and realizes that hard work and hours put in are what you do to become a strong artist. I have no doubt she instills this philosophy in her students as well.
Check out our interview with Haisla Collins as she talks more about her art and the “Through the Eye of the Raven” mural. We invite you to leave comments as well.
Woodland Artist Mark Anthony Jacobson
Along a busy Vancouver street in the Point Grey area, sitting in a chair out on the sidewalk, there we meet master Woodland Artist Mark Anthony Jacobson doing what he does best, engaging people with his warmth and energy, and taking a genuine interest in them, something not commonly found in this hustle and bustle world! With Mark it is all about connecting with people, and if they appear shy about coming up to him to look at his art work, he instantly makes them feel comfortable, like an old friend. That affability mixed with his intensity and passion for his culture, beliefs, and life’s work made for a dynamic interview! And so, for the first hour of our meeting we chatted with Mark on the sidewalk in between his interactions with other passersby or friends pausing to say hi.
Like many of the artists we have interviewed, we found Mark by stumbling and searching through the internet world looking for someone that would not only catch our eye, but also be willing to meet with us. Mark was more than both those people! When we first got a glimpse of Mark’s paintings they immediately grabbed our attention, the vibrant colours and dominant features first, and then the less obvious and more subtle content coming into focus as we lingered; finding life within life and always the theme of interconnectedness of mother earth as a common denominator. Be sure to check out our video interview below as he goes into more detail about the shamanistic messages scripting his paintings, and he as the messenger!
Moving from the sidewalk into the gallery gave us some other “in-sight” into Mark’s work. He is one of three First Nations Ojibway artists that occupy the space in the Greenery Native Art Gallery within the Greenery Florist, a unique and ingenious collaboration; a row of aromatic orchids pulling us into the gallery by our sniffing noses and then the eye opening paintings capturing our visual curiousity. A taste from the bowl of Werther’s and it’s almost a complete stimulation of the senses! It is worthwhile to note that Mark is also the first native artist in Canada to launch a Catalogue Raisonné, a project for establishing provenance of his known artworks to date.
Mark Anthony Jacobson with Grand Shaman of the Ojibway Norval Morrisseau (Copper Thunderbird) at their joint Gallery of Giving in Nanaimo 2005
Click on the images below to get the whole picture!
The next eleven minutes will seem like two as Mark’s energy, passion and spiritual philosophy carry us on a journey inside the man, the message, and the mission!! We encourage you to post comments. All my Relations.