Woodpecker, 2012, giclée ink on paper, edition 18/30. SFU Art Collection. Gift of the Salish Weave Collection of George and Christiane Smyth, 2022. Photo: Janet Dwyer
In Woodpecker, emerging artist C̸OSINIYE Paul blends the traditional Coast Salish design elements of ovals and trigons with lively and playful colours. Like her father, artist Chris Paul, C̸OSINIYE draws inspiration from the flora and fauna that are significant to her culture and present in her Vancouver Island surroundings. On Vancouver Island, several species of woodpeckers thrive including the Pileated Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and Red-Naped Sapsucker. All of these woodpeckers (some species only the males) have a distinctive, red-coloured tuft of feathers on their heads.
C̸OSINIYE Paul (b. 2000, Vancouver Island, British Columbia) is from the T'sartlip First Nation and is one of a younger generation of recognized Coast Salish artists. They are the youngest child of artist Chris Paul and are the sibling of emerging artists Liam Paul and Sage Paul. C̸OSINIYE works predominantly with drawing and painting in a recognizably Coast Salish style and is learning to carve small cedar objects as well as how to harvest and work with wool in their ancestors’ tradition.