Daphne Odjig's art helped shape Canadian history by merging First Nations voices and political issues into mainstream society, especially during the 1960s and 1970s.
Odjig used circles and curves in much of her work and described it this way: "The circle of life, our whole life being is a circle...."
KELOWNA, BC-Daphne Odjig, an internationally acclaimed painter and printmaker, passed at the age of 97. She was a member of the prestigious group of artists known as the "Indian Group of Seven".
Odjig was born on Septelber 11, 1919, in the Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario. She studied art in Ottawa as well as in Sweden. She was known for fusing various cultures that influenced her life in her artwork. She often mixed Indigenous symbols and icons from European styles.
Her art helped shape Canadian history by merging First Nations voices and political issues into mainstream society, especially during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2007, then Governor General Michaelle Jean awarded Odjig the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts at a ceremony at Rideau Hall.
"The doors weren't open to us," the artist told the CBC when she described what it was like for a beginning Indigenous artist. "We had a reason to tell the people who we are and what we can do."
Together with other Indigenous artists Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, and others, they organized shows and after time became known as "The Indian Group of Seven."
Odjig used circles and curves in much of her work and described it this way: "The circle of life, our whole life being is a circle," stating that after we're born, we go from one stage to another while deriving "the lessons into adulthood, it's a continual circle."
I paint what comes from my heart-what I feel and what I've experienced through life," she said. "If there's any Aboriginal child around, I hope it motivates them that they too can accomplish what they want to be."
The artist was awarded the Order of Canada in 1986 and an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto in 1985.
"All Indigenous artists, past, present and future, owe Daphne a debt of gratitude for helping us move our art from craft tables at flea markets into some of the finest art galleries and collections in Canada," Janvier said.
