Drawing

About this object

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.

Physical description

A series of pencil drawings on a white bookmark. The front-side of the bookmark is a compilation of several drawings, all horizontally oriented. The background is coloured a light grey. Drawn extending outward from the left edge of the bookmark is a dark grey tower-shape surrounded by an arch with a dotted outline. Beneath and to the right of the arch shape is an inverted creature. Directly to the right of the arch is a carrying pole(?) with a segment of whale flesh with the dorsal fin still attached; a crescent is drawn on the flesh. A rope with six feathers(?) is draped over the dorsal fin. Above the carrying pole is a frayed rope with a harpoon attached to its left end. Four side-by-side fishing lures(?) are drawn extending from the top edge of the right half of the bookmark. Underneath them a seal-like feast dish is drawn. In the bottom right corner, a diagonal line with a dash in the centre creates a triangle with the corner; within the triangle is a dark grey right trapezoid and a two dash wide vertical line. The reverse-side of the bookmark is machine-printed in blue ink on a white background. At the top is the bookstore's logo, three books leaning against the letters "AB." Listed below is the bookstore's commercial information including the bookstore's name, "Ascendant Books Ltd."