Eric Parnell Prints

Native Art Prints has recently started carrying the work of Haida artist Eric Parnell. Eric was born in Prince Rupert - on November 6th of 1961 - and is a member of the Masset Band.  His family clan is the Frog and his crest is the Eagle. Since 1985, Eric has been living and working in Vancouver.

Primarily a self-taught artist, Eric has been painting since 2002. Recently, he has added print-making to his body of work. Citing Robert Davidson and Bill Reid as two of his influences, Eric has also taken inspiration from his culture as a whole. As a young boy, he spent his time with other artists, and was introduced to the artistic world when he used to help artists from his community sell their argillite pendants. One of Eric's goals as an artist is to "continue to be a small part of the revival and continuity of our peoples' traditions."

Andrew Dexel Enpaauk Prints

Andrew Dexel Enpaauk is a young artist from the Nlakapamux Nation. Native Art Prints has been carrying his work for several years now, and it sells very well since his style mixes graffiti style with Coast Salish design. This fusion creates figurative and abstract images that speak to resistance and renewal. He began creating limited edition prints soon after establishing his unique style.

His beginnings as a graffiti artist is central to his style and since his switch from walls to canvas in 2007 he has brought this energy from the streets into his paintings. His work was featured in Kamloops Art Gallery's exhibition Shazam in 2009 and he also had the pleasure doing a solo show titled Gratitude at Vancouver's Grunt Gallery. 

His work is also featured at Vancouver's Lattimer Gallery and the Native Winds Gallery in Honolulu. He also had a showing of new works at Lattimer Gallery in 2010. Around this same period, Andrew painted a 7 1/2-foot fiberglass sculpture for Vancouver's public art project titled 'Eagles in the City'.

Early Northwest Coast Print Innovators

Printmaking is definitely not a traditional art form amongst First Nations cultures in the Pacific Northwest. Steam-bending wood, painting, and carving have always been common activities within Native communities here on the West Coast but lithographs, silkscreening, and etching...not so much. In the early 1960s - as artists such as Robert Davidson (Haida), David Gladstone (Heiltsuk), and Earl Muldon (Gitxsan) were completing major projects to revitalize their cultural art forms - screenprinting was introduced to First Nations artists as an affordable way to encourage aesthetic experimentation and market the art. Northwest Coast Native design is two-dimensional and based on formline composition to begin with, so the transition from traditional forms to printed paper was logical. The early years of Northwest Coast printmaking were incredibly successful as artists were producing both formal, conventional works and progressive, unconventional works. These prints were often made as limited editions of several hundred, so they entered the market at reasonable price points as well.

Native Art Prints makes an effort to acquire these early and innovative prints, as they are becoming rarer and rarer. Here are some of our favourites:

This print is titled Robin's Egg and was produced by Gitksan artist Phil Janze in 1981. Still producing to this day, Janze is an innovator in design and jewellery who works with unusual motifs and materials. In this charming piece, Janze has used both an atypical symbol and colour. Breaking away from strict Northwest Coast formline design, he has illustrated the baby robin in negative space and confined the design within the shape of an egg. This creates a spatial tension in the piece, which is deceptively complex.

This print by Donnie Yeomans is from 1979 and is enigmatically titled A White Finger Pointing to the Moon. One initially views the shape of the design as a whole to be the so-called 'finger' in the title of the piece...but this finger is black. We view the black in this piece to represent the night sky, with the small white tri-neg at the bottom of the piece to be the finger pointing upwards. The moon is in blue and red, and has been personified as is common with sun and moon figures in Northwest Coast art. This classic print is priced at $300.00 at Native Art Prints.

Now deceased, Carrier artist Larry Rosso is perhaps best known for his deeply-carved and carefully-crafted bentwood boxes. However, he also produced a variety of sophisticated and abstracted limited edition prints. This piece, Elements II, is open to interpretation: it can be read as an eagle figure (with the red u-form representing the beak), a large angular salmon head design, or simply shapes from the Northwest Coast lexicon. This piece is from a small edition of 107 and acts as a wonderful reminder of Larry's great contributions to this art form.

Ancient Killerwhale by Reg Davidson

Native Art Prints just received Reg Davidson's new limited edition print, titled Ancient Killerwhale. It measures 27" x 18" and is from an edition of 175. It is priced at $360 CAD. At first glance, this design resembles a bentwood box composition. The whale figure is not explicit; hence Reg's "ancient" designation. The head of the whale is in the upper right quadrant of the piece, with teeth showing, and a green labret. Below the head, in the lower right quadrant, is a crouching human figure, representing an ancestor. The lower left quadrant is comprised of a compressed pectoral fin, along with the tail flukes. And finally, the upper left corner contains what can be interpreted as the figure's dorsal fin.

The Killerwhale, also known as the Orca, is a primary crest within many Northwest Coast Native cultures. The Killerwhale can also be found along the west coast of North America throughout the year. Killerwhale clans connect themselves to the sea, where their ancestors are said to have once lived at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. There are many legends that tell of Killerwhales tipping canoes and bringing the occupants to their villages at the bottom of the ocean, and of whales guiding people to safety when they are caught on the water. All along the coast, fishers and hunters often apply Killerwhale designs to their canoes and paraphernalia. These depictions often include human elements, such as a human face in the blowhole or tail flukes. The human elements within these depictions may represent the artist, the artist’s connection to their clan, or an image of transformation. Generally, Killerwhales symbolize longevity, communication and strength within Northwest Coast art and culture. 

Reg Davidson, Haida, is from the Eagle Clan. He began carving in 1972. His influences include: brother Robert Davidson, father Claude Davidson, grandmother Florence Davidson, great grandfather Charles Edenshaw. His many published and widely exhibited works include: limited edition prints, silver and gold jewellery, masks, helmets, large poles, rattles, argillite sculptures and drums. Reg is also an accomplished singer and dancer with the Rainbow Creek Dancers, a Haida Dance group formed in 1980 by Reg and Robert. Among his many interesting commissions was a major totem pole project that was ordered by the successful British artist, Damien Hirst, in 2006.

New Ben Houstie Prints

Native Art Prints recently added two new prints by Heiltsuk artist, Ben Houstie. They both depict Frog in the same design but are available in two colours: red and green. This print is available for only $35.00 CAD each.

The frog as spirit animal or totem reminds us of the transient nature of our lives. As symbol of transition and transformation, this spirit animal supports us in times of change. Strongly associated with the water element, it connects us with the world of emotions, as well as the process of cleansing, whether it’s physical, emotional, or more spiritual

Ben's works include: original paintings, limited edition prints, carved cedar rattles and paddles. He has worked with Cheryl Hall, Robert Hall, David Gladstone and Beau Dick, and in 1988 worked under Bill Reid painting several drums of Bill's designs and 20 paddles for the Canadian Museum of Civilzation, Ottawa. His first painting in 1977 and his first limited edtion prints in 1987 were sold to Leona Lattimer Gallery. Ben also painted several reconstructed artworks in 2000 for the Museum of Anthropology's 'The Transforming Image' exhibition, at the University of British Columbia.

Alano Edzerza

Alano Edzerza has been involved in artistic endeavours since a young age, receiving an award for sculpture from the Victoria, BC School Board at the age of 13. He started learning about Northwest Coast art from his family; in particular, from Terrence Campbell. In 2002, Alano attended school in Arizona under the instruction of Rick Charlie. He has worked with artists: Jay Simeon, Marcel Russ, Phil Gray, Corey Bulpitt, Beau Dick, Mark Preston and Dempsey Bob. As of late, Alano has been working with glass and experimenting with this medium. In October of 2007, Alano had his first solo show at Stonington Gallery in Seattle, where he featured new pieces in glass, jewellery and limited edition prints. The arrival of the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 opened even more doors for this rising artist, resulting in the Vancouver Olympic Committee commissioning Alano to create a large scale glass installation at Rogers Arena, as well as the Dutch Olympic Team contracting him to help design their uniforms for the games.

Alano is a young artist who is very familiar with traditional formline but also likes working outside of cultural conventions. Many of his prints are cropped and asymmetrical, encouraging the viewer to look outside of the print space, rather than within it. He also accepts commissions in wood and glass. Please contact us for any custom requests you may have: http://nativeartprints.com/