Sgaana Jaad ~ April White, Yahgu'jaanaas Raven Clan
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April White is an award-winning, internationally-celebrated artist whose work is on display in collections and galleries all over the world. She has been painting since the early 1980s and her art is represented in many museums. She was born on
Haida Gwaii off the coast of northern British Columbia. Her father comes from a prominent family called Edenshaw, and she is descended from a line of powerful Haida chieftains. April's father and April's father's brother married two sisters; this double marriage ensured that April White is woven into the fabric of the Haida hierarchy and she has many cousins, aunts, and uncles in the Haida Gwaii region.
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Her mother has a British-American background and April has been able to live in the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal world throughout her life; sometimes she fits into both worlds and sometimes she feels removed from both as an outsider and an observer. Her unique perspective is that of a Haida woman who can also stand outside and look into the native world with a fresh view. This perspective molds the art and vision she presents in her paintings through her gentle, generous style.
April White can tell the stories of her home because she has lived so many of the lives of the characters in her paintings and travelled to so many remote parts of the land: she has celebrated with her clan at Potlatch ceremonies, she has worked on fish boats in the wild seas, explored the rocks and mountains as a geologist, journeyed to ancient villages to touch the totem poles of her ancestors, and walked on the beaches in storms. Through all of this her eyes, ears, and heart have been open to the whispers of the spirits of the forests, oceans, and open skies and her paint brush has brought this magic alive for us.
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April White, a self-taught painter, has been inspired to paint hundreds of paintings over the years since her first paintings came alive in her mind and compelled her to leave her career as a geologist to become a full-time artist. Fifteen years ago she began screen printing, using this medium to define her growing need to explore Haida formline. For over twenty-five years she has populated galleries across North America and Europe and many of her paintings set a new standard of artistic expression.
In this presentation of April White's remarkable work we have selected from hundreds of original paintings and hand-pulled serigraphs and presented a wide representation of her art in four sections: Landscapes, the Haida World, Haida Spirits Manifest, and Haida Art and Legends.
The measure of an artist is represented by the body of his or her work and its resonance for those who encounter it. April White is truly a great artist in our time whose work will speak for many generations to come and tell the story of a strong, independent, ancient people and their land.
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