with Jaalen Edenshaw

Lithograph, Edition of 100

2016

Unframed

(For inquiries on Custom Framing, please contact the gallery)

“The Great Box” depicts the story of a Kuna Ka T’aa a powerful supernatural being who is known as both the Wealth Bringer and the Whale Eater. The Edenshaw brothers choose to photograph the back of the box for this lithograph. The image was then re-worked to embrace both of their individual artistic styles in a collaborative nature.

It’s a culmination of a project that they undertook in Oxford, England to create a response box inspired by a historic Haida artifact, known simply as “The Great Box.” They formed a box of matching dimensions from an old growth cedar plank in Masset on Haida Gwaai and brought it over to Oxford with them to carve alongside the original. Throughout the entire process they centered their focus on learning from their ancestor; taking great care in studying the box’s complex formline, deliberately replicating each carving stroke of the Master artist to better understand their vision. They titled their completed piece The Great Box Considered and it returned to Haida Gwaai where it now resides.