wASH

wASH wASH In continuation with some of the themes explored with my previous print "Salmon Eggs," this painting is also a reflection on the graphic development and perpetuation of Coast Salish design. To reiterate, "historical" Coast Salish art was a predominantly carved art form. The majority of ARTifacts of Coast Salish provinence housed in museums of are carved and unpainted. Some painted screens and carvings do appear in museum collections, and when paint does appear on some Salish ARTifacts, it appears as a wash over a carved surface, to emphasize or accentuate the carved two and three dimensional surface. The utilization of a wash or wateRED down paint on the surface of Coast Salish artifacts has always intrigued me as a contemporary Coast Salish graphic artist; hence the graphic experimentation in this painting. In this painting I was experimenting with opaque and transparent colours and subtlety. The red colour over the burgundy faces subtly evokes the feeling of a wash over a surface. The black and dark navy colours of this painting are meant to evoke ashes and the burning of cedar wood in a traditional ceremonial context. In this time the wetness of water and the heat of fire and ashes mediates between a dialectical complexity in reality. As Coast Salish guardian spirit dancers, some with their faces painted black and some with their faces painted a burgundy-type colour, sing traditional songs, spiRITUALity mediates between some of the dialectical complexities of reality and existence. --lessLIE