'Everything Through Natural Law' - Marika Swan
Representing some of the core elements of the ʔiisak Pledge, Marika Swan shares this through her most recent window art installation.
Marika Swan was commissioned by Tourism Tofino after receiving the Indigenous Learning and Projects Grant for Visitor Services through Indigenous Tourism BC and Destination BC.
Marika shares with us the meaning behind her artwork:
The Sun and Moon are integral in the teachings related to Natural Law. In a reality that is forever transforming, the Sun and Moon remain constant forces holding the rhythm of the tides and seasons. They are depicted above, overseeing a scattering of four-pointed stars and trade beads.
The blue trade beads are a local iconography connected to commerce, wealth, and the complexity of the legacy of colonization. The four-pointed stars symbolize balance and truth.
And together, the waves of stars and beads hold the tension between the laws of reciprocity and the colonial systems we participate in today. As a window installation, the outside and inside worlds are seen through the designs, creating interruptions and portals for new understandings.
Visitors are invited to sit with the teachings shared through the ʔiisak Pledge in an effort to collectively return to lifeways that are in better alignment with Natural Law and reciprocity.
Bio: Marika Echachis Swan (Tla-o-qui-aht / Nuu-chah-nulth) was born in an ancestral village site just outside of Tofino and returned to the area 14 years ago to set roots as a Tla-o-qui-aht community member and mother. Her Tla-o-qui-aht lineage comes from the David family through her father Hyacinth “Joe” David with connections to close relatives in the Huupacasath and Ditidaht First Nations. Marika also carries Scottish and Irish lineage through her mother Paula Swan.
Since returning home, Marika has balanced a variety of community arts initiatives with her own creative practice. For many years, Marika was a core coordinator of the Carving on the Edge Festival, a local annual gathering of coastal carvers. Through this community, she became active in the work of researching and repatriating the extensive body of Nuu-chah-nulth Ancestral Treasures now being held in museums and institutions across the world.
Marika’s interest in cultural revitalization and the role “art” plays in a living culture is demonstrated both privately within Nuu-chah-nulth ceremonial spaces and publicly through outward-facing work that is intended to be enjoyed by the public. As an avid woodblock printmaker and carver, Marika has built a large body of prints that explore Nuu-chah-nulth (and broader) spiritual concepts with elements of motherhood, sovereignty, and the emotional experience of being human. Through her extensive study of the ancestral Nuu-chah-nulth art form, her work includes elements of traditional styles and fearless contemporary explorations.