First Fisherman

Art Thompson was born in the village of Whyac on the southern end of Nitinat Lake. He belongs to the Ditidaht Band of the Nuu Chah Nulth people. From 1970 - 1972, he studied fine arts at Camosun College in Victoria. Subsequently he enrolled at the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver, working in both two and three dimensional forms. It was here that Thompson began printmaking and began to create the striking silk-screens for which he is now so renowned. He has created a number of large dance screens that have in turn become serigraphs. Thunderbird and Whale is an example of this adaptation. Art Thompson's work can be found in many public collections including the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec, the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, The Canadian High Commission in Singapore, and Stanford University in the United States.