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Description

A pencil drawing on a single-sided, vertically oriented, piece of white paper. On the front-side is a hand-drawn image of a bear standing upright. The bear's mouth is open, the length of the claws on the front and hind paws are exaggerated, and the exterior of the bear's body is covered in fur while the interior of the body is decorated with criss-cross patterns, ovoids, and tower-shapes. The bear's back is against a coniferous tree. A single fish is drawn to the left of the bear's hind legs. The fish's body is decorated with a stripe pattern with dots centred between the stripes. The artist's signature, a "M" with a line drawn through it and two dots, is in the bottom right corner of the bookmark. The reverse-side of the bookmark is blank.

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.

Item History

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