Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Canadian, b. 1975
Sonny Assu (Liǥwildaʼx̱w of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations) was raised in North Delta, BC, over 250 km away from his home ancestral home on Vancouver Island. Having been raised as your everyday average suburbanite, it wasn’t until he was eight years old that he discovered his Liǥwildax̱w/Kwakwaka’wakw heritage. Later in life, this discovery would be the conceptual focal point that helped launch his unique art practice.
Assu’s artistic practice is diverse: spanning painting, sculpture, photography, digital art and printmaking. Sonny negotiates Western and Kwakwaka’wakw principles of art making as a means of exploring his family history and the experiences of being an Indigenous person in the colonial state of Canada.
Having cut his teeth in Vancouver’s art scene, Assu packed up and moved to Montreal to be with the love of his life. Five years later, along with his wife and beautiful daughter, Sonny moved back to BC, eventually settling back “home” in unceded Liǥwildaʼx̱w territory (Campbell River, BC.).
Assu received his BFA from the Emily Carr University in 2002 and was the recipient of their distinguished alumni award in 2006. He received the BC Creative Achievement Award in First Nations art in 2011 and was thrice long-listed for the Sobey Art Award. He received his MFA from Concordia University in 2017 and was one of the Laureates for the 2017 REVEAL – Indigenous Art Awards.
His work has been accepted into the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Hydro Quebec, Lotto Quebec and in various other public and private collections across Canada, the United States and the UK.(Biography provided by Art Mûr)
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Artist: Sonny Assu
Landline #6
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #10
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #14
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #15
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childhood summers were spent on a his grandfather’s commercial fishing boat, navigating the waters along the coast of Vancouver Island. Assu would trace their boat’s movement on the navigational charts - comparing the landscape in front of him with its abstract representations in a spiral bound book. His grandfather had no need for these abstracted images of the land and water around him, he could read these places like the back of his hand.
As Assu remembers his childhood on the water, the charts’ demarcations become markers of a deeper loss: of land, resources, trade, communication, and kinship between the Liǥwildaʼx̱w, the Kwakwaka’wakw, and the other Pacific coastal...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #2
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
Landline #11
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #9
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #12
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
Landline #7
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
Landline #5
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #3
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
Landline #1
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Landline #2
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
They make magic lines on the land that only they can see. - A Hupacasath man’s response to early colonial surveyors demarcating the boundaries of his reserve.
Sonny Assu’s childho...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #7
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Archival Paper, Ink
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #3
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Acrylic, Archival Paper, Paper
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #4
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #1
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Archival Paper, Acrylic
Cutting Edge
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #2
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Acrylic, Paper, Archival Paper
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #6
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
The Treasury Edition: Spidey Spectacular #5
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Cutting Edge
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Cutting Edge
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
As a kid, comic books were a form of entertainment and escape. The ideal of future monetary value in these objects was far from my kid mind. I'd crease the pages, handle the covers w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Sonny Assu Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
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Sonny Assu’s childho...
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Sonny Assu figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Sonny Assu figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Sonny Assu in archival paper, paper, ink and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Sonny Assu figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Andrea Stajan-Ferkul, Zachari Logan, and Cal Lane. Sonny Assu figurative drawings and watercolors prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,400 and tops out at $4,000, while the average work can sell for $4,000.