Drawing

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.

A pencil drawing on a yellow bookmark. The drawing and the paper are vertically oriented. On the front-side of the bookmark, a human skull, drawn in light grey pencil, is the central image. The skull has large round eye cavities, tall and narrow triangular nasal cavities, and two teeth attached to the upper jaw. A large dark grey dorsal fin extends outward from the top of the skull; the interior of the fin is decorated with an unshaded tower-shape and a dark grey circle. Protruding from the cheeks of the skull are two fins, both outlined in dark grey with unshaded yellow interiors. A whale tail extends downwards from the jaw of the skull; the two tail flukes are decorated with unshaded ovals and inverted triangles. The reverse-side of the bookmark is machine-printed in black ink. At the top is "Che's Pages," below is the store's specialty and an image of an open book. At the bottom of the page is the store's business hours and address. A black rectangular border is printed along the edges of the page.