Morrisseau's art as an inspiration (Part V)

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"Imaginative mind is like an endless sky"

"Woodland style belt buckle" ~ silver and turquoise/red coral
© Zhaawano Giizhik /Click on image to Enlarge/


>>> The following is the writing of Zhaawano Giizhik, an artist and jewellery designer:

"As a jewellery maker, a graphic desiner and a writer of blogs and articles, I sometimes ask myself: where does my inspiration come from? And: which artists inspired me the most? Part one of a new blog series.

The first question is the more difficult one to answer as there is no simply-cut answer.

So, since the answer would be too complex to fit in the rather simple context of a blog post, I will not dwell on it further here.

As for the second question, who provided the most inspiration, the answer is simple - yet also slightly paradoxical.

I say without hesitation that it is the late Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) painter Norval Morrisseau, by far the most important Canadian artist that ever lived and whose traditional name was Miskwaabik Animikii (Copper Thunderbird), who has been my main inspirator - even long before I realized that I had artistic ambitions.

The paradoxical element lies in the fact that two entirely different art disciplines are involved: where Norval Morrisseau - and those many other brilliant Native Canadian artists who followed Morrisseau's footsteps in the form of the New Woodland School of Art - used to be painters pur sang, I chose silversmithing as the primary means to express myself.

Stylistically speaking, however, there are other artists who more or less follow the Woodland School discipline but use a more minimalist style than Morrisseau, who have a profound influence on my work - even more than Morrisseau himself. The first painters and graphic artists who come into mind here are, among others, the late Jackson Beardy, the late Carl Ray, the late Benjamin Chee Chee, the late Cecil Youngfox, Stanley Panamick, and Clemence Wescoupe. Yet it was COPPER THUNDERBIRD who re-awakened my spirit memory and opened my eyes because he, by inventing an entirely new language, made visible with the aid of a paintbrush unspeakable things that I felt inside but could not describe before.

Above all, Norval Morrisseau, who went by the spirit name of Copper Thunderbird and started to paint in the very year I was born, made me realize that the job of an artist is always to APPEAL TO THE INNER SPIRIT and DEEPEN THE MYSTERY THAT IS ALWAYS THERE UNDER THE SURFACE.

So, Copper Thunderbird is the reason why I chose the artist's path.

“I wanted to be a Shaman and an artist. I wanted to give the world these images because I felt this could bring back the pride of the Ojibwa, which was once great....My aim is to reassemble the pieces of a once-proud culture, and to show the dignity and bravery of my people.”

- Norval Morrisseau/Copper Thunderbird (1931-2007)

Zhaawano Giizhik 





>>> Reference links:
~ Zhaawano Giizhik's Website,
~ Zhaawano Giizhik's Blog &
~ Zhaawano Giizhik's Twitter.


>>> Reference posts:
- Morrisseau's art as an inspiration (Part I),
- Morrisseau's art as an inspiration (Part II),
- Morrisseau's art as an inspiration (Part III),
- Morrisseau's art as an inspiration (Part IV),
- Others about NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG (Part VIII),
- Spiritually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (Part I),
- Spiritually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (Part II),
- Spiritually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (Part III),
- Spiritually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (Part IV),
- Spirutually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (part V),
- Spirutually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (part VI),
- Spirutually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (part VII),
- Spiritually Inspired Jewellery by Zhaawano Giizhik (Part VIII).
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