Dylan Thomas (Qwul’thilum) is a member of the Lyackson First Nation (Valdes Island), through his grandfather, Clifford Thomas. He also has Songhees heritage through his great grandmother, Mary Moody (of the Albany family), Squamish heritage though his great grandfather, George Moody, and Snuneymuxw heritage through his grandmother, Doris Josephson (from the Wyse family). Although Dylan grew up in the urban setting of Victoria, he was introduced to Coast Salish art at a young age because his family continues to participate in their culture and tradition. Dylan’s early experiences with Salish art ignited a lifelong passion for the art form – and, eventually, led him to seek guidance from established artists. Dylan received training in jewelry techniques from the late Seletze (Delmar Johnnie) and studied under Rande Cook in all mediums of Northwest Coast art. Dylan’s artwork has been published in The Journal of Mathematics and the Arts (Taylor and Francis), and in Contemporary Art on the Northwest Coast by Karen & Ralph Norris. In 2013, Dylan was featured – alongside Rande Cook, lessLIE, and Francis Dick – in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Urban Thunderbirds/Ravens in a Material World exhibition. In 2016, Dylan held his first solo exhibit, Sacred Geometry, at Alcheringa Gallery in Victoria. Along with Rande and Delmar, Dylan’s art has been influenced by the late Art Thompson, Susan Point, and Robert Davidson. Dylan has also extensively studied other forms of traditional geometric art, and his work has been deeply influenced by Vajrayana Buddhist mandalas, Celtic knots, Islamic tessellations, and many other ancient geometric art traditions.

Dylan Thomas participated in the Visiting Artist Program in 2019.

Hidden History (Exhibition Installation Image to Come)

Over the last few years, I have spent much time as a ‘digital treasure hunter’ amassing an enormous collection of images of Salish artifacts located in global art collections. It’s interesting to consider the time frames of the objects’ creation, and the evolution of their style and the media used by their creators. I have begun to appreciate the many objects and pieces of regalia that Salish artists used to create, which have ‘fallen out’ of tradition. In particular, I am drawn to stone carving. As a contemporary Salish artist, I am amazed at the prolific nature of historical stone carvers.

In this work, I am engaging the tradition of Salish mask making. Most people understand the centrality of the Xway Xway mask in our culture. But, few know there are a variety of other masks we used prior to colonialism. These other masks were danced and used for feasting. While I can’t bring back the dances and songs, I can bring back the practice of mask making. For this mask-ette, I’m inspired by the fragment of a browband discovered at the Marpole site. The browband was carved from bone and likely worn by higher ranking individuals. Today we see Salish dancers wearing woven wool headbands, and I’ve seen a carving by Charles Elliott of a small spindle whorl placed onto a woven headband. This mask-ette titled Hidden History references Salish masks and regalia that would have been used over 1000 years ago.

My choice of pearwood instead of cedar is a conscious decision to explore new domestic woods for my carving in light of the declining availability of old growth cedar. I have chosen pearwood for its qualities of being a hardwood that holds detail well. This is my first piece using a non-traditional wood.