Title

Dogfish Woman and Bear Mother

Artist

Reid, Bill

Date

1991

Type

sculpture

Owner

SFU Art Collection

Accession Number

N/A

Location

Simon Fraser University, Academic Quadrangle

Category

SFU Art Collection

Collection

Public Art

Lat/Long

49.27947957305704,-122.91673879035986

View in Google Maps

http://www.google.com/maps?q=49.27947957305704,-122.91673879035986

Dogfish Woman and Bear Mother are elements taken from another sculpture, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii (1986) — an iconic work by Haida artist Bill Reid that was commissioned by architect Arthur Erickson for the courtyard of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Vancouver International Airport commissioned a second cast of the work, which is permanently installed in the international terminal. The work also appears on the back of the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. Dogfish Woman is a figure distinguished in traditional Haida design by a hooked beak that signifies her transformative powers, as well as a labret in her lower lip. Dogfish Woman was a favourite subject of Bill Reid, who has portrayed her with the stylized nose of a shark reconfigured as a crown. Reid's portrayal of Bear Mother, a Haida woman who becomes the mother of bear cub children, is depicted with a smooth human face and stylized hair. This work is part of the Simon Fraser University Art Collection. The SFU Art Collection contains over 5,800 works. Approximately 1,000 works of art are shown throughout the campus and integrated in public, administrative and common learning spaces. A selection of the most accessible in this diverse repository are incorporated into the City of Burnaby Public Art Registry. For more extensive information about the holdings at SFU, visit: https://www.sfu.ca/galleries/Collections.html (text provided by SFU)

Bill Reid (1920-1998), acclaimed Haida master goldsmith, carver, sculptor, writer and spokesman, was one of Canada's greatest artists. Bill Reid was born to a Haida mother and a European father. While working as a broadcaster with the CBC in Toronto in the early 1950s, he studied jewelry-making at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, and later studied classic European jewelry-making at the London School of Design. He combined European jewelry techniques with the Haida art tradition. His passion for Haida art was kindled by a visit to Haida Gwaii in 1954 where he saw a pair of bracelets masterfully engraved by the great carver and his great-uncle, Charles Edenshaw, after which, to use his own words, “the world was not the same.” For the next fifty years Reid embraced many art forms. He gradually explored his rich Haida cultural heritage, studying early ethnographic publications, museum collections, and surviving examples of strong works from Haida Gwaii, always trying to understand the logic behind the form. Inspired by the deeply carved messages of the totems and the lush beauty of the Queen Charlottes, Reid would go on to create many powerful sculptural masterpieces. “The Raven and the First Men,” a native version of the birth of mankind, and “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii,” showcased at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, brought international acclaim. But his crowning achievement was “Lootaas” (“Wave Eater”) -- a 15-metre war canoe carved from a single cedar log. Reid both celebrated and defended the Haida, using his fame to champion their land claims. When he died in 1998, the Haida took him home, bringing his remains back to his mother’s ancestral village, Tanu, aboard “Lootaas.” Reid created over 1500 works over his long career, from the ‘monumentally small’ to the ‘exquisitely huge’. In addition, and perhaps of greater impact were his parallel careers as broadcaster, writer, poet, storyteller and communicator. Bill Reid was the pivotal force in introducing to the world the great art traditions of the indigenous people of the Northwest Coast. His legacies include infusing that tradition with modern ideas and forms of expression, influencing emerging artists, and building lasting bridges between First Nations and other peoples.