Susan A. Point, Common Thread
Susan A. Point
1952-
Musqueam Coast Salish
Date
2000
Medium Specific
Silkscreen
Edition / State
46/52
Classification
Print
Dimensions
30 x 12 in. (76.2 x 30.5 cm.)
Accession Number
2023.35.20.13
Credit
Gift of Gloria and Selig Kaplan
Memo / Artist Statement
Common Thread illustrates the link between all creatures. I believe all life on earth and no doubt the universe is connected.' Top of the post features the moon, (face is that of a wolf), directly below is a star, below the star sits the owl, raven makes an appearance features a a human face, next is a wolverine and then a sturgeon. The earth, anchor or root of the piece is fiery and wild to the core Connecting all of these creatures, whether they know it or not. weaves the thread, the river of life--that reminds us we are all related. (Wyatt, G., 2000: 17)
Biography
Susan A. Point is a Coast Salish artist from Musqueam, a First Nation in Vancouver, British Columbia. Born in 1952, from childhood Susan has been taught the traditional values of her culture and legends of her people by her many aunts and uncles, but above all by her late mother, Edna Grant-Point, and her late uncle, Dominic Point.
Point began her artistic career in January 1981 designing and creating gold/silver jewelry. Through research and consultation with various museums and libraries, Susan began her study on the design and art style of traditional Coast Salish artifacts creating designs reflecting traditional images of the past in jewelry, limited edition serigraphs, and paintings, many taken from the Coast Salish spindle whorl.
Over the past 3 decades, Susan has been instrumental in re-establishing Coast Salish art both in Canada and the United States. She has been awarded numerous public art commissions, including building facades and large sculptures in Canada and the U.S, including the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology. Her work is included in numerous collections nationally and internationally.
Point has been awarded the Order of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, in addition to a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, a B.C. Creative Achievement Award, appointed to the Royal Academy of Arts, was elected to the International Women’s Forum, and has received four Honorary Doctorates from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, University of B.C. and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
http://www.authenticindigenous.com/artists/susan-point
Point began her artistic career in January 1981 designing and creating gold/silver jewelry. Through research and consultation with various museums and libraries, Susan began her study on the design and art style of traditional Coast Salish artifacts creating designs reflecting traditional images of the past in jewelry, limited edition serigraphs, and paintings, many taken from the Coast Salish spindle whorl.
Over the past 3 decades, Susan has been instrumental in re-establishing Coast Salish art both in Canada and the United States. She has been awarded numerous public art commissions, including building facades and large sculptures in Canada and the U.S, including the Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., the U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology. Her work is included in numerous collections nationally and internationally.
Point has been awarded the Order of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, in addition to a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, a B.C. Creative Achievement Award, appointed to the Royal Academy of Arts, was elected to the International Women’s Forum, and has received four Honorary Doctorates from the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, University of B.C. and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
http://www.authenticindigenous.com/artists/susan-point
Inscription
46/52, Common Thread, Susan A. Point, 2000