Thunderbird Gallery

steffichfineart

Artists

Chris Johnson aka Ice Bear

Chris John son, aka Ice Bear is from the Ojibway nation, Chippewas of Nawash Clan. He spent 25 years working in commercial art design and for the past 15 years he has worked as a painter and sculptor in his studio on Vancouver Island , British Columbia . The artist has attended the Toronto Artist’s Workshop and Sheridan College where he received some formal training. Ice Bear does not take credit for his talent, or “gift” as he prefers to call it; he says it was given him as a tool by the Creator so that he can fulfill his responsibilities: giving reality to the visions the Creator sends him.

His art is a combination of abstraction and figuration depicting the human figure as part of the natural environment. The interweaving imagery of animals and patterns or motifs is inspired by traditional native arts reflecting his cultural heritage, the mythologies of aboriginal peoples and the conundrum of being aboriginal in a technological world. Ice Bear’s art is interconnected with his cultural heritage and reflects the artists’ beliefs about “the necessity of understanding the natural world around us, and learning to respect both this Earth and all our fellow travelers on it”.

His commissioned and community driven works in cl ude 3 large murals in Sydney and Chemanius B.C. in addition to “Four Winds” a 13‘ composite sculpture in downtown Victoria, B.C.

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