Zunoqua of the Cat Village 1931

Emily Carr’s painted "Zunoqua of the Cat Village" with what looks like bold, searching brushstrokes, a kind of fauvist colour sense, but her own kind of brooding tonality. Look at the way the paint swirls, almost like Van Gogh, but grounded, earthy - literally! You can see the physicality of her engagement with the medium - thick applications, raw textures. Carr isn’t trying to hide the process, she’s celebrating it, even reveling in it. Notice especially how the totem's features emerge from the surface with a sculptural quality. There’s this sense of the Pacific Northwest light, but also something else, something about the spiritual and material world coexisting, and how both are always changing, shifting. Carr’s influence can be seen in contemporary artists like Brian Jungen, who also draws inspiration from Indigenous art. Ultimately Carr reminds us that art is a conversation. There’s no single right answer, just different ways of seeing and experiencing the world.