Shawn Hunt, a Heiltsuk artist of Heiltsuk, French, and Scottish ancestry, has emerged as a significant figure in contemporary Northwest Coast painting through his dynamic reinterpretations of formline design and his engagement with Indigenous cosmology. His practice draws directly from the visual culture of the Heiltsuk Nation while simultaneously interrogating and expanding the boundaries of traditional Northwest Coast aesthetics.

Thematically, Hunt’s paintings draw heavily on Heiltsuk cosmology and narrative traditions, using human and animal figures, sometimes mythological, to explore the fluid boundaries between ancestral knowledge, lived experience, and contemporary Indigenous identity. Picking Berries is a glowing painting, which situates figures in a moonlit, surreal setting, and merges memory with imagination.

Hunt’s innovative approach is also shaped by his background in sculpture, drawing, and carving, as well as apprenticeships with prominent artists including his father, Bradley Hunt, and Coast Salish painter Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun.

Please note: this work is unframed.