Collection: Francis Dick

Francis Dick - Kwakwaka'wakw Artist

Francis Dick is a contemporary Native artist and a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation. Francis was born in 1959 in ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) into the Musga’makw Dzawada’enuxw Band of Kingcome Inlet. She is a descendant of the Kawadelakala (Supernatural Wolf), who shed his animal form to become the first of the Kingcome people. She is adept in Dzawada'enuxw art style.

Francis’s work whether visual, lyrical or verbal is strongly influenced by her cultural heritage. Much of her earlier art contains images of her family’s Kawadelekala legend. However as Francis’s style and art form developed, she began to work on images outside of her culture. Nonetheless, her cultural traditions still have a strong influence on her work.

Francis finds meaning in her life through her creativity in art, which she ‘dreams up’ and constructs. She plays an integral part within the Native art community in Canada. She has been invited to speak for various community organizations, women’s groups and university classes.

Today, Francis’ art is internationally renowned. Her story has been heard in various universities around the world, and her art travelled worldwide and was exhibited in North America, Asia and Europe. She presently lives in Victoria, B.C. where she is continually working with her creative expressions to fabricate a meaningful way of life.

"Before anything else, my work is about honouring my life process, my journey through my fires, from places of pain and darkness to places that I might stand in my truth; my work is not a career, it's a way of life."