- Artist:
- Dylan Thomas
- Edition Size:
- 125 signed and numbered, 12 artist's proofs, 12 remarques, 2 printer's proofs
- Paper Size:
- 76 x 47 cm, 30 x 18.5 inches
- Image Size:
- 67 x 38 cm, 26.5 x 15 inches
- Publication Year:
- 2019
"Five Ravens is a print based on a cedar panel I made for my first solo exhibit, Sacred Geometry. In this show, I restricted myself to only using straight lines and circle fragments as design elements. Unlike my regular designing process, when preparing for this show, I simply played around by arranging circled and straight lines until something caught my eye, and in this design, ravens emerged. The first four are fairly obvious, with their bodies depicted in dark purple. The fifth raven’s body appears at the bottom center in an overhead view with its wings extended to each side. Ravens often symbolize transformation in Salish mythology, so this design represents the transformation of my artwork from fairly traditional Salish art into novel styles and processes."
- Dylan Thomas
Born in Victoria, in 1986, Dylan Thomas (Qwul’thilum) is a Coast Salish artist and member of the Lyackson First Nation of Valdes Island, through his grandfather, Clifford Thomas. He also has Songhees heritage through his great grandmother, Mary Moody (of the Albany family), Squamish heritage though his great grandfather, George Moody, and Snuneymuxw heritage through his grandmother, Doris Josephson (of the Prest family).
Although Dylan grew up in the urban setting of Victoria, he was introduced to Coast Salish art at a young age because his family continues to participate in their culture and tradition. Dylan’s early experiences with Salish art ignited a lifelong passion for the art form – and, eventually, led him to seek guidance from established artists. Dylan received training in jewelry techniques from the late Seletze (Delmar Johnnie) and studied under Rande Cook in all mediums of Northwest Coast art. Dylan’s artwork has been published in The Journal of Mathematics and the Arts (Taylor and Francis), and in Contemporary Art on the Northwest Coast by Karen & Ralph Norris.
In 2013, Dylan was featured – alongside Rande Cook, lessLIE, and Francis Dick – in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Urban Thunderbirds/Ravens in a Material World art show, and in 2016, Dylan held his first solo exhibit, titled Sacred Geometry, at Alcheringa Gallery in Victoria. Along with Rande and Delmar, Dylan’s art has been influenced by the late Art Thompson, Susan Point and Robert Davidson. Dylan has also extensively studied other forms of traditional geometric art, and his work has been deeply influenced by Vajrayana Buddhist mandalas, Celtic knots, Islamic tessellations, and many other ancient geometric art traditions.