The Comox Valley Art Gallery invites you to visit artist Darrell White while he works on a carving in the gallery.
He and his sister April White exhibit a show titled Stone, Paper, Spirit: The Haida Hands of April White and Darrell White, consisting of paintings, carvings and prints until this Saturday.
From July 30 through Aug. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., White will work on the yellow cedar door panels. There are two narrow panels, each about seven feet tall and one foot wide.These doors tell the story of The Raven and the Big Fisherman.
Raven, most powerful creature of the myths, great transformer, mischievous and complex, many-voiced and provocateur, encounters the home of the Big Fisherman. This giant man lives alone in a great big, magnificent house with his wife.
Raven spies on them through a crack in the boards and sees the Big Fisherman catch a great halibut out of a container of enchanted seawater in the floor. Raven is impressed by this magic, but more so, by the promise of never-ending halibut.
Soon the Big Fisherman readies for a journey, giving Raven the idea to change into the image of the Big Fisherman and make use the magical seawater. But the real Big Fisherman returns and discovers this deceit.
Raven/Big Fisherman is forcefully removed from the household and in a badly bruised shape, is taken out to sea and put into its depths. He transforms into a spring salmon, and is immediately swallowed by Sghana, a killer whale.Darrell White Kats' Stl'iinaa was born in Queen Charlotte City, Haida Gwaii. Although having moved away from the Islands at an early age, with infrequent returns until later in life, he has now experienced many traditional Haida ceremonies.
He shares a strong family legacy from Haida artists of the Edenshaw line and has mentored with Christian White in argillite (a sedimentary rock) carving. He also studied old Haida works in museum collections and books before committing to the full-time carving of argillite and wood for the past decade, leaving a career as a professional welder/fabricator.
His works are exhibited mainly in British Columbia, and are now in many private and public collections throughout North America and internationally.The gallery in downtown Courtenay is at 580 Duncan Ave. Admission is free or by donation.
For more information, phone 250-338-6211.
— Comox Valley Art Gallery