"While some formal elements of abstraction and modernism are evoked in Kukwits' painting, there is also an underlying fascination with language. In the recurrence of patterns and motifs, Kukwits' is interested in the syntax of visual signifiers (glyphs) and how meaning communicates beyond the verbal. Much of his practice forms part of a broader exploration of a vocabulary focused on gesture and form rather than direct language." - Ceremonial / Art
"Now in his seventh decade as an artist, Gigaemi has consistently sought to create compelling work that joins his Indigenous heritage and experience with the artistic influences around him. In 1966, he spent several months on a trip that took him across Europe, stopping in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Munich, where he viewed the art in such museums as the Tate, Louvre, and Rijksmuseum and made new works that he sold along the way. After spending two years at the Vancouver School of Art from 1967 to 1969, he concluded that his learning would be more productive if he returned home. Ensuing travels and time spent in Morocco, Thailand, Indonesia, and the American desert in Arizona, among other places, furthered his sense of creative curiosity and experimentation. The subjects of Gigaemi's paintings range from narrative to symbolic, to purely formal play, all unified by his intention to explore" - Dr. Hilary Letwin, Curator of Gigaemi Kukwits: The Travelling Line, West Vancouver Art Museum
Gigaemi Kukwits (b. 1945) lives and works in Vancouver, BC and is of Coast Salish (Squamish Nations) and Kwakwaka'wakw heritage. His chiefly name was appointed in a cedar bark ceremony by his uncle Simon Baker and derives from his grandparents of the Musgamakw Dzawada'Enuxw First Nations. At a young age, Kukwits' trained under artists Douglas Cranmer, Mungo Martin and Mathias Joe. In 1966 he spent several months in Europe, stopping in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Munich, where he visited the Tate, the Louvre, and Rijksmuseum and made new works that he sold along the way. Upon return he briefly attended and studied at the Vancouver school of Art (Emily Carr University of Art + Design) in 1967.
