>

Stealing the Moon

"The first time I envisioned 'Stealing the Moon', it was in a dream. My favourite paintings seem to start this way.

Tlingit stories about the moon inspired the design. It was once thought that Raven, the Trickster, placed the Sun and the Moon in the sky. Raven also had the ability to take them away; 'Stealing the Moon' is about this capability.

The painting, when looked at in two parts, consists of Raven and a Raven-finned Killer whale. Raven is found in the black crescent that makes up the last quarter of the Moon. It is represented only by its head, two wing joints and feathers.

Within the inner circle is the Killer whale. I chose the Raven-finned Killer whale design as another representation of the Raven. It was originally thought that the dorsal fin of these whales were the long black beaks of Ravens swimming by. The Trickster had transformed himself into a whale. Its pectoral fin, body and tail flukes are all in blue, while the blowhole of the Killer Whale doubles as the bottom wing joint of the Raven. The dorsal fin is the Raven's head and top wing."

Edition of 150/Paper Size 38 X 49.5 cm