Art at YVR

"Land, sea and sky" are interpreted in the Supernatural World, on the Arrivals Level of Vancouver's Domestic Terminal. Supernatural World is comprised of the work of three of BC's best known Northwest Coast Aboriginal artists: Dempsey Bob, Robert Davidson and Richard Hunt. These veteran carvers were commissioned by YVR to create a collective interpretation.

For the Aboriginal people of the Pacific Northwest coast, the cosmos holds worlds both seen and unseen. The realms of the land, the sea and the sky are inhabited by the creatures of nature, but they are also home to spirit powers that can move between the realms, transforming themselves at will. Some families tell of spirit beings who came down from the sky to become their first ancestors. Others tell of animals living in human-like villages hidden from view.

The sculptures here offer us a glimpse of these supernatural worlds. The Killer Whale, chief of all ocean people, is preyed upon by the legendary Thunderbird. Sharing the land are the Bear and the Human, each reflecting the other's image in a pair of enormous masks. Soaring overhead are two great sky beings, the Raven and the Eagle.

Richard Hunt's rendering of the Thunderbird and Killer Whale calls on the traditions of the Kwa-Gulth people. Hunt's work shows the legendary thunderbird swooping down to eat the killer whale. The killer whale, a predator, has a seal in its mouth. Killer whales, said to be the spirits of high-ranking chiefs, are used in the Klasala (peace) dance, while thunderbird regalia is used in a dance called Tamed Hamatsa.

Supernatural World features two of the world's largest masks by Tlingit/Tahltan artist Dempsey Bob. Human Bear is a human portrait mask, with a little bear perched on his forehead. The other carved cedar mask, Bear Human is a representation of Bear, with the figure of a human peering out between the bear's ears. The carvings represent the bear's and the human's relationship with the land and the environment.

Two mythical sky creatures, Raven and Eagle in Robert Davidson's Hugging the World, Raven and Eagle sculpture celebrate two crests of the Haida people: their culture hero, the Raven, and its complement, the Eagle. The Raven is looking inward and the Eagle looks out from the back of the Raven's head. One pair of human hands acts as outstretched wings for both.