The multiple layers of meaning in Why invite questioning: the six wire women with clay masks, the collaged landscape containing traditional Westcoast First Nations formlines, the threads suspending a wolf, bear and raven in copper, silver and gold. There are seven coppers on top and seven braids at the bottom. Why seven? Why include the women? Why are the animals in those materials? Who are the women; is it Dzunakwa? Someone else? Like the world we live in, there are no instructions and no easy answers. Life’s mysteries get shape and meaning as much from their own inherent qualities as from what meaning is brought by the viewer.

Why

Date: 2002

Client: Indian Arts Centre (Ottawa, Ontario)

Dimensions: 5’0” x 6’4” x 91/2”

Material: Paper, Card, Wire, Galvanized Mesh, Maple, Spectra thread, Clay & Acrylic