Friday, October 23, 2009

Chris Hopkins - Haida Gwaii Unveiling

Painting unveiled at 40th anniversary celebration in Masset B.C. , Canada



Chris was commissioned to commemorate the 1969 raising of the first totem pole in a century by the Haida people. That arguably marked the renaissance of the Haida Native Culture. The 1969 totem pole was carved by 22 year old Robert Davidson. The presentation of the painting took place at a three day celebration that occurred in the ancestral homeland of the Haida people, the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Canada. The celebration marked the 40th anniversary of the 1969 pole raising hosted by Robert and Reg Davidson. The painting was donated and now in it's permanent home at the Masset Hospital.

Jan Hopkins @ SOFA Chicago 2009

"Law of Identity" - Dimensions: 57-1/2"x12-1/2"x8", Materials: melon rind, weathered hydrangea petals, silver dollar pods and yellow cedar bark, photo: Ken Rowe

This piece is part of the women icon series and homage to Gertrude Stein. I am inspired by her words and the impact she had on the written word. While contemplating how I was going to portray her work, I decided that I wanted to use her most famous quote "a rose is a rose is a rose". According to Wikipedia" In Steins view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of the thing already evokes the imagery and emotions defused through her own writing and the culture at large." it is also pointed out that "Gertrude Stein's repetitive language can be said to refer to the changing quality of language in time and history. She herself said to a University that the statement referred to the fact that when the romantics used the word "rose" it had a direct relationship to an actual literature that would no longer be true. The areas following romanticism, notably the modern era, used the word rose to refer to the actual through the use of the word, the archetypical elements of the romantics era. It also follows the rhetoric law of thrice fold repetition..."




SOFA Chicago Lecture Series at Navy Pier Festival Hall
MATERIAL TRANSFORMATION: Found and Procured

9:30am - 10:30 am, room 327

Fiber artists Jan Hopkins and Leslye Richmond
discuss their innovative use of materials and
process to create alternative forms and surfaces.

Presented by Surface Design Journal
Represented by Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM