Canadian Indigenous artist Daphne Odjig dead at 97

Canadian Indigenous painter and printmaker Daphne Odjig has died at the age of 97.

The internationally recognized artist had been in a long-term care facility in Kelowna, B.C. According to her son, Stan Somerville, her family was by her bedside at the time of death.

A 1975 silkscreen of Daphne Odjig's Nanabajou and his Daughter, from the collection of the University of Winnipeg. (Larry Glawson)

Painting style

Odjig was born on Wikwemikong First Nation, on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario on Sept. 11, 1919. She studied art formally in Ottawa, as well as in Sweden. Her work fused together the various cultures that influenced her life, often mixing Indigenous symbols and icons with European styles.

Her work has been shown in exhibitions throughout Canada and the U.S and has been included in public collections in Ottawa and Winnipeg. She also was commissioned to work on projects in Japan and Israel.

She often credited her family as an inspiration for pursuing an artistic career and dedicated a book about her life, A Paintbrush in my Hand, to her grandfather, mother and father.

In a 1992 interview with CBC, she explained that spirituality, identity and politics are all prevalent in her work, as are circular shapes.

"The circle of life, our whole life being is a circle," she said, describing why she used them. "You're born, you evolve from one stage to another, derive the lessons into adulthood, it's a continual circle."

For her achievements, Odjig received the Order of Canada in 1986 and the Governor General's Award in Visual Arts in 2007. That same year, she also became a Member of the Order of B.C.

Daphne Odjig reflects on her life and her art6:52

Artist hoped to inspire others

"The doors weren't open to us," she said in another CBC interview several years later, describing what it was like as an Indigenous artist starting out. "So we had a reason to tell the people who we are and what we can do." 

The artist was also awarded an honourary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto in 1985.

"I paint what comes from my heart — what I feel and what I've experienced through life," she said. "If there's any Aboriginal child around, I hope it motivates them that they too can accomplish what they want to be."

Her family is not planning a memorial but says Odjig had suggested any donations go to the Kelowna SPCA.

She is survived by her son, stepson, grandchild, and a great grandchild.

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Canadian Indigenous artist Daphne Odjig dead at 97