Supernatural World
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Hugging the WorldYear: 1999
Artist: Robert Davidson
Dimensions and materials: Red cedar, acrylic paint, copper | 2.7 x 4 x 1 m
Terminal: Domestic
Level: Level 2
Security access: Before security
Robert Davidson's depiction of the two principal crests of the Haida people, Eagle and Raven, has been designed to occupy a difficult space of transition. Located in the group of works titled Supernatural World, it is suspended from the ceiling between two towering architectural pillars and addresses travellers passing by on the sidewalk outside the Domestic Terminal and on the escalators, ramp and concourse inside the building. Carved like large dance masks mounted back to back, the work speaks to the importance of Eagle and Raven in Haida spiritual belief and social structure.
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Thunderbird and Killer WhaleYear: 1999
Artist:Richard Hunt
Dimensions and materialsRed cedar, acrylic paint | Killer Whale 2.2 x 1.2 x 4.9 m; Thunderbird 2.7 x 4 x 6 m
Terminal: Domestic
Level: Level 2
Security access: Before security
This two-part sculpture by Richard Hunt shows Thunderbird with wings spread as it is about to swoop down on its prey, Killer Whale. Killer Whale is a hunter too and is depicted with a seal in its mouth; human faces are painted on its side fins, a bear on its dorsal fin and an eagle on its tail and in its blowhole. All beings represented are crests of the Kwakwaka'wakw people, the eagle being the principal crest of Hunt's clan in For Rupert, British Columbia, while the Thunderbird was bestowed upon Hunt during a family potlatch.
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Human/Bear MasksYear: 1999
Artist: Dempsey Bob
Dimensions and materials: Red cedar, horse hair, acrylic paint | Human/Bear Mask 152 x 76 x 61 cm; Bear/Human Mask 213 x 91 x 61 cm
Terminal: Domestic
Level: Level 2
Security access: Before security
Two masks by Tahltan-Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob reveal this artist's distinctive style. Carved in red cedar and selectively painted, these works declare the artist's family connection with the Bear clan and acknowledge the special kinship between bears and human beings. In "Bear/Human Mask," a small human figure with long black hair crouches between the ears of a bear; in "Human/Bear Mask," the small face of a bear, with human teeth and extended tongue, is perched on the forehead of a human mask.