Norval Morrisseau

1932 - 2007

Norval Morrisseau was an indigenous Canadian artist from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation in Ontario.
He was a self-taught artist whose subject was primarily the cultural legends of his culture. His work is signed “Copper Thunderbird” in Cree syllabics which was his name among his people, given to him to strengthen him during an illness in his childhood. He used bright, contrasting colors and thick black lines to create his stylized paintings of animals and landscapes, almost as decorated silhouettes, lending them a feeling of flowing movement. Instead of creating expressionless silhouettes, however, he used this lack of detail and contrast to give his subjects expression.

Below is a Youtube video that is a slideshow of Morrisseau’s work set to music by the Northern Cree of Canada. It’s kind of long, but he was a prolific artist who worked for a long time. Don’t feel the need to watch the whole thing!

We are going to create a bear in the style of Norval Morrisseau, but instead of acrylic paint, which was Morrisseau’s favorite medium, we’re going to use collage.
Later, we’ll add our awesome bears into a landscape!