diggin roots and stripping cedar
by Levi Nelson
The painting is a forest scene made of solid coloured shapes with black outlines. The pine trees are bright greens with skinny trunks of pink, browns, blues, and greens with roots spreading across the ground. A yellow sun with a thick orange outline pokes out from behind a silhouette of lime green mountains seen through the trees.
Kneeling by the large tree with a green trunk, a woman kneels and digs by the roots. She wears a light blue bandana with white polka dots, a red shirt, a purple apron, purple-blue pants, and brown lace-up boots. Her pants match her long braid that hangs down to her knees. A brown and yellow basket sits behind her.
Behind her, on the right side of the frame, a woman strips a long piece of wood from a brown trunk to reveal a pale yellow colour beneath. She wears a green dress with blue, red, and yellow stripes on the bottom and high up on the sleeves. She has a dark blue braid that hangs over her chest to her waist. Lastly, she wears a brown hat with a large brim angle down with a blue outline. She also has a brown and yellow basket sitting behind her.
Two women dig and strip wood in a brightly coloured forest.
“The cultural teachings of my ancestors inspired this painting. So, likewise, my work takes its inspiration from the cultural practices of the Lil’wat Nation.”
how the animals and birds got their names
The painting is of a mountain landscape made of solid, brightly coloured shapes with black outlines. Pine trees of bright greens and teals line the outer sides. In the middle of the scene, slightly to the right, is a red dome with four people on the left and a dark blue bird over them. In the left side of the dome, are four people holding circular drums. A purple bird shape surrounds them. This purple bird shape also has a circular human-like face of bright blue and purple. A squirrel sits on the dome, and fish swim underneath in a bright blue stream. A black, dark blue, and red bear reaches for a fish in the bottom right corner of the frame. Other animals like rabbits, a porcupine, a woodpecker, and moose surround the dome.
In the background are grey and dark teal mountains with a striped sunset or sunrise of yellow, orange, pink, red, blue, and purple.
People in a shelter are surround by a mountain landscape with many different animals.
Levi Nelson of the Lil'wat Nation is currently waiting to graduate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design this May 2021. He spent the last four years working towards his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, focusing on painting. Following his BFA, Nelson has been accepted to study for his Masters Degree in Fine Arts at the Columbia University School of the Arts in New York, commencing Fall 2021. Most recently, his work was exhibited in the group show 'Resurgence: Indigequeer Identities' at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. Nelson is the recipient of the 2019 Ian Gillespie Award for Excellence in Painting and the 2018 IDEA Art Award winner.