The lightning snake is a powerful being in our mythology, it is associated with the thunder bird and the two headed serpent. They fly through the air and have noses sharp enough to split trees. This piece was inspired by a thunder storm here on the west coast in 2020 and how I saw lightning striking in the city. I wanted to represent that scene from a Coast Salish perspective through our own art style and world view.
Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun (he/they) is an artist and storyteller from the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, BC. His family roots are with the Rice family of Penelakut, the Hamilton family of Hupacasath and further up and down the Northwest Coast. His interdisciplinary art practice is rooted in honouring and celebrating the teachings, stories, and world views passed down by his family, communities, and Coast Salish and Nuu Chah Nulth cultures. He works across a range of mediums, including digital art, painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, creative writing, and curation. He graduated with a Master’s of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University in 2023 and currently resides on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
The Lantern City is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered on this land, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples whose arts and stories inspire us to bring communities together.
