Susan Point: Coast Salish Artist

This beautiful book marks the exciting emergence of Susan A. Point as a major artist on the Northwest Coast.

Susan Point's striking and distinctive jewellery in precious metals to prints, painting and monumental pieces in wood and glass—has won worldwide acclaim. An innovator with a strong personal style, she like to express both ancestral concepts and contemporary concerns in new mediums such as glass and bronze, as well as the more traditional wood.

Point has immersed herself in the study of traditional art and culture. She says: "Coast Salish art is relatively unknown to most people today. I am trying to revive traditional Coast Salish art—and also attempting to educate the public to the fact that there was, and still is, another style of art indigenous to the Northwest Coast." Her freshness of vision, her inventive use of a variety of mediums and her talent for working on a large scale have led to many prestigious commissions. In her twenty-year career, Susan Point has participated in over sixty group exhibitions and had a dozen solo shows; she also has received over thirthy-five commissions for public art pieces.

The book was edited by curator Gary Wyatt. Michael Kew's essay describes traditional Coast Salish art, culture and beliefs. Peter Mcnair's biographical essay follows the artistic development of Susan Point. And each of the new works of art is accompanied by a description of its meaning as told by Susan Point to Vesta Giles and Bill McLennan.

62 full-colour and 21 black-and-white reproductions.

View the Susan Point: Coast Salish Artist exhibition.