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Description

A drawing on a bookmark. The front-side is a hand-drawn image of a killer whale in black and red ink with traces of pencil outlining the body of the whale. The head of the whale is angled upwards; it is decorated with black ink with the exception of the space between the teeth and the lower jaw which is filled with a red stripe pattern. The whale's blowhole is embellished with two black dots, a red diamond with curling arms and a red horizontal oval, forming an upside-down face? The midsection is decorated with three creatures all with black eyes and teeth, and red mouths. The pectoral flipper is embellished with three creatures; the one closest to the whale's head is drawn upside down in all black ink, the middle and the end creature both have black eyes and teeth but red mouths. The upper portion of the tail is decorated with a human-like face with two eyes drawn in black ink, nostrils and an upper lip in red ink, and rounded teeth outlined in black ink. Black ovals with inner red ovals and two intersecting red lines are drawn in the tips of the whale's tail flukes. The reverse-side is machine-printed. At the top is the bookstore's name, "Acadia Art & Rare Books," and the store's hours. The middle section of the bookmark lists the store's specialities in black ink; the names of famous artists are printed in the background in grey ink. Commercial information including the store's address, telephone and fax numbers are listed at the very bottom of the bookmark.

History Of Use

These 62 small works (3223/1-62) comprise a collection of drawings in pencil, ink, pencil crayon, and felt pen made by the artist between the years 1968 and 2015. During that period the artist has identified himself by the following names: Ron Hamilton; Hupquatchew; Ki-ke-in; Kwayatsapalth; Chuuchkamalthnii; and Haa’yuups. The drawings are, for the most part, applied to the backs of bookmarks acquired from a range of bookshops; some are applied to other pieces of paper or cutouts from his earlier silkscreen prints. Many of the images represent killer whales, often in conjunction with accoutrements and symbols of Nuu-chah-nulth whaling. The juxtaposition of bookmark and representation of Nuu-chah-nulth himwits’a, or narrative, is a deliberate and meaningful placement of two distinct knowledge systems in relationship with one another. Ephemeral drawings like these were not created for the market; the artist has long made them for himself and sometimes as gifts for relatives and friends; they are a way of sharing his knowledge and experience about Nuu-chah-nulth ways of knowing, thinking about, and being in this world; they are expressive of what he calls kiitskiitsa: marks made with intention.