These extraordinary paintings are by Dakota/Ojibwe, Linus Woods, from the Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba. Linus is a winner of the Peace Hills Trust Company Art Competition and in 2003 was one of seven artists chosen for the Image Makers First Nation Art Exhibit in Los Angeles. In 2010, his work was included in Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years exhibition of contemporary Indigenous art organized by the Winnipeg Art Gallery that features premier Indigenous artists from Canada and around the world.
Mr. Woods is primarily self-taught, but he has studied art at Brandon University in Manitoba and worked closely in projects with Jane Ash Poitras.
His paintings are based on the oral traditions, dreams, and legends of his ancestors that he approaches with his own humor. He is also influenced in a major way by nature and his surroundings on the Long Plains Reserve.
In addition to private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe, Woods' work can also be found at Brandon University, the Department of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, Arrowhead Corp, the Government of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, and the Peace Hills Trust.
His work is currently on exhibit at Neechi Commons in Winnipeg.
