ODAWA POTAWATOMI ARTIST DAPHNE ODJIG BORN
Daphne, born at Wikwemikong Indian Reserve, Ontario (ON), learned to paint by copying works at the Royal ON Museum & Art Gallery. A 1964 powwow inspired her to refocus her art on traditional legends, trickster tales, and darker histories. Solo exhibits at Thunder Bay, ON (1967) and Brandon, Manitoba (1968) brought her to the public eye. Odjig illustrated Dr. Herbert Schwarz’s book Tales From the Smokehouse (1968) and did the Earth Mother collage for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo ’70, Osaka, Japan. In 1971, she established Canada’s 1st Indigenous-owned art gallery and, with Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray & Joseph Sanchez, was part of “The Indian Group of Seven.” Awards: Governor General’s Award (Visual & Media Arts, 2007) and Order of Canada (1986). The National Gallery of Canada presented her 2009 solo exhibit, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition. Odjig died in Kelowna, British Columbia on October 1, 2016.
Source: Bonnie Devine, “Daphne Odjig,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10/17/2011. Retrieved 7/19/2020,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/daphne-odjig
Photo: Misterlobat, 10/21/2008. Public domain.
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