Butterfly Grids No.2, 2019, cast forton and yellow cedar. SFU Art Collection. Gift of the Salish Weave Collection of George and Christiane Smyth, 2022. Photo: Janet Dwyer
Behind Four Winds, 2012, edition 5/50, serigraph on paper. SFU Art Collection. Gift of the Salish Weave Collection of George and Christiane Smyth, 2022. Photo: Janet Dwyer
Mountain Mist, 2012, edition 5/28, serigraph on paper. SFU Art Collection. Gift of the Salish Weave Collection of George and Christiane Smyth, 2022. Photo: Janet Dwyer
Susan Point’s Butterfly Grids No.2 is a sculptural work featuring nine equal sections arranged in a grid and mounted on a square piece of yellow cedar. Eight sections, cast in dark brown forton, echo the central carved cedar form, and each depicts a spindle whorl motif adorned with symbols of salmon, eagles and ravens. Derived from butterfly wings, the imagery forms a square’s four points, symbolizing the cycle of life and the Musqueam people’s deep connection to the land. The piece also carries personal significance for Point, referencing her experience at a residential school and the broader impact the residential school system had on Indigenous communities, particularly children. For Point, Butterfly Grids No. 2 is a symbol capturing the strength and resilience of survivors of the residential school system.
Central to the sculpture, and to many of Point’s designs, is the spindle whorl, which is a traditional object normally carved from wood or stone that is used in the preparation of wool to create weavings. Many spindle whorls, which could be oval, soft-squared or circular, had complex graphic and geometric designs on one or both sides with a hole in the middle for the shaft. The circular spindle whorl format is representative of the circle of life and is extremely important in Coast Salish cultural tradition and contemporary design. With generations of women in her family being weavers, the spindle whorl design is significant to Point, and it has provided her with endless inspiration for her prints and sculptural works of art. Behind Four Winds is an example of a contemporary interpretation of traditional spindle whorl design. This serigraph features four interconnected beings and birds presented in a circular configuration likely representing the four cardinal winds. Traditionally, the main source of fibre in Salish weavings was mountain goat hair. Woolly dog hair, cedar bark, and other plant fibres were also used in Salish weavings. Mountain Mist depicts the head of a mountain goat, likely a nod to the main source of wool used in historic and traditional Salish weavings.
Susan Point (b. 1952, Alert Bay, British Columbia) is a xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) artist who grew up on the xwməθkwəy̓əm Indian Reserve in Vancouver. She studied collections of Coast Salish art at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC and the Royal BC Museum. Her work has been shown widely across Canada and was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2017. Point’s work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Vancouver Art Gallery and National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa). She has been recognized with an Indspire Achievement Award, a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, a BC Creative Achievement Award, appointed lifetime member to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, selected to the International Women’s Forum, and was one of Vancouver’s 2012 Remarkable Women. She holds Honorary Doctorates from University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and Emily Carr University of Art and Design; is an Officer of the Order of Canada; and has been presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to Canada.