"Spirit Faces" presents a collection of 75 masks, all in vivid colours by 23 of the best native North American artists working on the Northwest Coast today. These beautiful and powerful works of art reflect a culture rich in its relationships with the natural environment and its enduring mythology. They depict creatures - eagle, killer whale - as well as natural elements and forces - moon, weather - humans and supernatural beings, such as Thunderbird or Chief of the Undersea. Masks remain an important part of native ceremonial life on the Northwest Coast. They make the supernatural world visible, bringing it to life in dance dramas performed at feasts, potlatches (winter festivals) and ceremonies for secret societies. Some masks embody mythology or history. Others depict shamanic experiences, or are portrait masks that represent personal experiences. The most elaborate are transformation masks, used to display the transformation from one form to another when, at the high point of a dance, the dancer opens the outer mask to reveal another inside. Each mask is accompanied by the artist's own words describing its particular creation and meaning. Gary Wyatt, the Curator of the Northwest Coast collection at the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Canada, explains the importance, significance and ceremonial use of the masks, and outlines the place of art inside Northwest Coast societies as well as the place of Northwest Coast native art in the international art world.
