Floyd [Tyee] Joseph

Saskatchewan NAC Auction House Biography and Notes

Floyd Joseph was born in 1953 in Homulticison (Capilano), on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, British Columbia. He is Hereditary Chief of the Squamish Band, and goes by the ancestral name Tyee. His father was carver, and Floyd Joseph grew up immersed in Salish art. Joseph attended Capilano College, majoring in art, and during this time he travelled to Europe to explore galleries and museums. In 1990 he produced his first major exhibition at the Marion Scott Gallery (Vancouver). Joseph creates full-scale house posts, welcoming figures, painted bowls, masks, sculptures and silver works which reflect his heritage. His work can be found in many public collections, including 30 pieces in the permanent collection of the University of Victoria, among them the twelve-meter high Welcome Figure at its main entrance.