Written by Lloyd Dykk
On the walls of the Marion Scott Gallery are two points of view of the remote archipelago known as Haida Gwaii off the northwest coast of British Columbia. Also know as the Queen Charlotte Islands, it’s the home of the Haida and was the home of Hazel Wilson, whom Judy Kardosh, owner of the gallery, calls “a national treasure.”
She has known Wilson for 30 years and brought much attention to her career as an artist. Wilson has two pieces in the current Vancouver Art Gallery show, Raven Travelling.
The other artist in the show is Edward Epp, who lives in Prince Rupert but was born in Saskatchewan. The two have depicted sometimes the same Haida Gwaii vistas, Wilson on thick painted and appliqued melton wool ceremonial blankets meticulously edged in buttons that stand in for seashells, Epp working in acrylic and watercolour on canvas.
