Spirit Guardians

Spirit Guardians
Susan Point (2005)
L011.1.1

“The work consists of two bronze polymer masks, representing an initiated Coast Salish man or Shwey-Shwey in the top half of the work, balanced by the female equivalent occupying the lower half. The male/female masks, who represent spirit guardians, are united by a cedar rope hand carved in red cedar, symbolic of all life in Coast Salish cultural beliefs. Under these components is a celadon coloured sandblasted glass representing the Fraser River and the Pacific Ocean and emphasizing the importance of these waters in Coast Salish culture.”

– Kerry Mason, History in Art professor at the University of Victoria

Susan Point (born 1952) is a Coast Salish artist based on the Musqueam First Nations Reserve. Point began her career in 1981 in jewellery, serigraphs, and paintings. Eager to reinvigorate interest in her own peoples art style, Point chose to concentrate on the traditional designs and elements created by her ancestors while applying a more contemporary aesthetic and experimentation with techniques and materials such as paper, glass, bronze, wood, concrete, polymer, stainless steel, and cast iron. Point’s innovative approach to traditional forms and myths has led to an international reputation and has inspired many of the new generation of Northwest Coast artists