Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas “Flesh Tones”, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’s exhibition in the windows at 1265 Howe Street embellishes a small selection of illustrations that are part of an ongoing series of anthropomorphic research beginning in 2008. The greater body of work and the exhibition are both titled Flesh Tones, which references the colour palette and corporeal themes that ground these studies.

The series was initially inspired by the surface of copper leaf—its creases and translucent glow reminiscent of human skin, shifting between abstraction and embodiment. Meanwhile the exhibition features mechanically rotating figures and a large mosaic image composed of nine pigment prints on canvas. Both the wall-mounted works and the kinetic sculptures offer changing perspectives as they struggle to orient themselves through space.

Flesh Tones continues Yahgulanaas’s exploration of material, motion, and the human form through the lens of Haida manga.

Produced in collaboration with Malaspina Printmakers and i.e. creative, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas would like to thank Ben Duncan, Justin Muir, Val Loewen, Cheryl Hamilton, and Michael Vandermeer for their creative and technical support.

Special thanks to the Audain Foundation for sponsoring this exhibition.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a contemporary artist whose work asserts personal and cultural identity that maintains integrity while dissolving hard and uncomfortable barriers. Influenced by iconography, both from his Haida culture and contemporary Asian visual culture, he has created an artistic practice that crosses diverse cultures, generations, and disciplines in search of accessibility and engagement as a counterpoint to stratification and isolation. Institutional collections include the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, the Humboldt Forum Foundation, and Vancouver Art Gallery.