Visual Arts

Ancestral Reliquary

Levi Nelson

In keeping with the tradition of the artist visiting the master works in the museum, I found an entry way into my final grad project via the ancestral belongings of the Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia. Objects found within the collections of the Audain Art Museum Whistler, and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, were explored through study sketches and photography, on my many visits to these houses of ancestral artifacts and treasures, in search of inspiration for the following paintings.

I am aware that I am an Indigenous artist practicing the European tradition of oil painting. Tradition is something I deeply respect in both Western and Indigenous cultures, as it provides a means to develop an understanding of the very nature of art and society. Works of art are left behind to guide the canon of our zeitgeist, as we borrow, steal, and find new ways to break the rules and push the conversation of art forward.

Masks, poles, blankets, and baskets designed and perfected by the individual who created them, stand to attest that culture is quite literally designed by the artist. When history makes reference to the past, to a people, or to a culture, we are presented with works of art as examples of their existence. This is the reason I live, this is the reason I create; so that I may contribute a verse to the stream of objet d’art that will be frozen in history and called upon to illustrate it.