lessLIE is a contemporary Coast Salish artist born in Duncan, BC. lessLIE grew up in Seattle, and his work often articulates his experience as an urban dweller. He frequently uses word play in his titles to reveal hidden meanings, or blends imagery and text through the use of punctuation. For example, his monumental spindle whorl painting titled, wHOLE w(((horld))).

lessLIE has been studying Coast Salish art since 1995, and received his Bachelor of Arts in First Nations Studies from Malaspina University-College. He has also started working towards a Master of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Coast Salish art at the University of Victoria. 

His work is held in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, as well as the Westfalisches Museum fur Naturkunde in Munster, Germany. He has had solo exhibitions at Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, and Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria. In late 2009, lessLIE participated in the cross-cultural exhibition at Alcheringa, Hailans to Ailans. In 2013, he co-curated the exhibition Urban Thunderbirds/Ravens in a Material World at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Inaugural artist for the Visiting Artist Program in 2010.

Canada’s Genocide (Exhibition Installation Image to come)

This painting is to document Canada’s genocide of Indigenous people. It was painful to paint, because my late mother (who drank herself to death at 60) attended the Kuper Island Indian Residential School and the Alberni Indian Residential School. It was painful to realize that I was raised by residential school Survivors. The faces painted in Stuart Semple Black 2.0, were inspired by historical photos of sad kids in residential schools. They are buried and submerged in this image.

Covid19 Mask (Exhibition Installation Image to Come)

This mask is to document the historic era of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Covid-19 presented Indigenous communities with a significant threat, with reserves having a higher per capita percentage of people with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and overcrowding of houses. Coronavirus also threatens our cultures with the potential loss of Elders.