MoA

Got knocked down with a flu over Halloween. Like an idiot I figured a day of rest would fix it, and so I went out on the weekend and then wound up even sicker, resulting in two days off work spent sleeping and groaning.

I never claimed to be terribly bright, people.

Thankfully I was feeling decent this weekend, because my father was in town visiting with his wife. It was lovely to see them both; as an adult, time spent with your parents is all the more enjoyable because you can dispense with some of the bullshit and you can all relax. Part of our visit we spent at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, which is a place dad used to take us when we were children and remains one of my favourite parts of Vancouver.

There was a lot of new stuff from Papua New Guinea, including a series of contemporary collaborations with Haida artists. My sister and I enjoyed the masks most of all, as we usually do. My favourite part of the museum besides the totem poles in the main area is the First Nation mask area, where there are beautiful pieces from the Kwakwaka'wakw - masks used in the Hamatsa rituals depicting huge, man-eating birds. 

The artwork of the Pacific Northwest indigenous people is stunning. No matter how many times I see it, I am always struck by how graphic it is, with bold blacks and a brilliant use of negative space. This is true in the carvings as well, as you can see simply by walking through the main hall of the museum. The poles there have the designs carved in so deeply that shadows pool dark enough to create contrast. 

I grew up with this one.

Maybe that's where my love of heavy inks came from. And perhaps my limited palettes? To this day I'll avoid more than a handful of colours in my art if I can get away with it. 


Speaking of art... I'd hoped to enter a Canadian graphic novel anthology contest deal, and I'd planned to collaborate with my friend Andrew. The deadline, however, is December 1st and realistically with my work schedule I don't think I'll be able to do it. This gives me the sads. 

Still, there's always other chances. 

I'm pretty sure I had something else to write about here, but I went for a run today after over a week of not doing so, and I am fucking exhausted. I think I may just lounge until my sister crashes my apartment for a photoshoot. (My couch, it is photo worthy.)