Aboriginal artist Rande Cook<\/strong> has a bone to pick with the appropriation of First Nations culture. \u201cIf I have to do another killer whale motif I\u2019m going to shoot myself,\u201d he says emphatically.<\/p>\n

Cook doesn\u2019t want to create what galleries or collectors expect of him. He wants to tell his own stories, in his own way and in a traditional yet evolving style. We tend to pigeonhole native artists as carvers and blanket-box makers. Cook can carve and make boxes but he also belongs to a generation of native artists that\u2019s turning convention on its ear by using all mediums, carving, drawing, painting, video, photography and performance to make their point.<\/p>\n

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Rande Cook at Times Square NYC<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have strong stories; we have metaphors just like the rest of the world. Can we connect on an international level where people will start to understand us as First Nations people based on our stories and not based on the aesthetics and the masks? \u201d he asks.<\/p>\n

Idle No More<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>is a recent work in which he\u2019s married native symbolism – the heads are direct origin stories, the men\u2019s direct ancestors – with the western tradition of narrative painting. That\u2019s Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper kneeling before the First Nations Team of Justice. The issue is native self-determination and the Team is holding the Prime Minister accountable because as Cook says \u201che\u2019s always a faceless guy in the background negotiating everything. He\u2019s never got any time to turn around and face Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Idle No More<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Idle No More Detail<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ravenous<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>tells another story. A raven, which tradition says released the light \u2013the sun, the moon and the stars \u2013 is tethered on a leash. Like a pet. In the background, a wolf preys on unsuspecting passers-by and a forgotten and destitute Hollywood icon, Mickey Mouse, crashes on the sidewalk. \u201cIt\u2019s about the state of the world,\u201d says Cook lamenting the rise of personal gratification over spirituality. \u201cIt\u2019s individualistic. It\u2019s not a collective anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re going in one direction right now and we have to make a serious change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ravenous<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aware that he too lives in a material world Cook says \u201cmy work is the story of my life and how I\u2019m personally adapting\u201d and for him, adapting means probing, questioning and satirizing. His smaller pieces which include\u00a0T\u2019in T\u2019in<\/em>,\u00a0LOL\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Let\u2019s Boogie<\/em>\u00a0continue this interplay of western icons and traditional design. They\u2019re also a little cheeky.\u00a0\u00a0If mainstream society can play with aboriginal images why can\u2019t native artists play with western ones? \u201cI like to have fun,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Tin Tin<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always pushing myself to be fresh,\u201d he says about his approach to art.\u00a0That\u2019s Cook behind the mask in New York City. \u201cWhat does New York mean to me?\u201d he says about his 2012 trip to the Big Apple.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCommercialism and finance so I said I\u2019m going to make a Louis Vutton mask.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(The mask is salted with gold inlay and Louis Vutton logos). \u201cI wore it all over Times Square, went down to Wall Street and said we\u2019ve got to ride this [bull] sucker.\u00a0Am I railing against consumerism? No, I want to make people aware. Can we maintain balance within this world we live in or do we have to consume?\u201d<\/p>\n

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LOL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Always questioning convention, he encourages others to continue the fight. \u201cI think for\u00a0our culture<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>to continue to live, we need to make it fresh. We need to keep re-inventing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up, a fashion show that will open in Victoria next year. Traditional costumes will lead a parade of haute couture models accompanied by historical Edward Curtis films morphing into contemporary videos. And yes, there\u2019s likely to be a reference, however fleeting, to the killer whale motif.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Let’s Boogie<\/strong><\/p>\n

A selection of Cook\u2019s photographs and the painting\u00a0Idle No More<\/em>\u00a0are currently on display at Vancouver\u2019s Fazakas Gallery.<\/p>\n

+\u00a0Rande Cook<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

+\u00a0Edward Curtis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

+\u00a0Fazakas Gallery<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aboriginal artist Rande Cook has a bone to pick with the appropriation of First Nations culture. \u201cIf I have to do another killer whale motif I\u2019m going to shoot myself,\u201d he says emphatically. Cook doesn\u2019t want to create what galleries or collectors expect of him. He wants to tell his own stories, in his own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":41145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[6655,7170,6650,7169,6954,7168],"yoast_head":"\n