Erin Linn McMullan
Special to the Westerly
Reflecting Spirit’s artist-owner Signy Cohen is your guide to 1,001 stories of the West Coast.
Pulling these narrative threads into one marvellous tapestry, she moves from brilliant paintings by Shannon McWhinney, Becky Luth and Marla Thirsk to Dian McCreary’s dramatic black-and-white photos to the playful sea otter cradling a spiky urchin crafted by Snawnaw’as Coast Salish Nation carver Brian Bob.
Weaving together a unique creative community since first opening the gallery more than a quarter-century ago, in July 1992 —originally where Chocolate Tofino is now—Cohen is a passionate advocate for 100-plus local and regional artists; organizing artist-in-actions, promotional video and encouraging keen local art students.
She explains the cycle of life illustrated by Bob’s carved salmon —from bellyful of eggs to eagle’s belly—and how Didymus’s, her father’s, mathematically-precise paintings rely on architectural draftsmanship and the Golden Mean, rather than computer calculation.
Her enthusiasm for Thirsk’s Emily-Carr inspired breakthrough in style echoes Thirsk’s own.
“This is her love,” says McCreary, who recalls standing, prints in hand, outside her door in the early ’90s. “I think, without this gallery, there would be a lot of artists who would not have had a showcase.”
Luth, a marine biologist whose surf paintings express that “unique dance between human and Divine,” likens Cohen’s acceptance of her art to an acceptance of who she really is.
For Cohen, her richest experience is “to be present and witness the creative growth of an artist as they move, always into their own metamorphosis and richness of expression,” often inspiring her “to go home and create art myself”.
“I see her as a living legacy of how a role model can dedicate their life to arts,” says Bob, one of the first artists to knock on her door.
Through his guiding principle, “Aspire to Be One,” he hopes to provide a window into his culture and honour his mother, Fran Touchie’s Nuu-chah-nulth people.
“What you learn about First Nations way of teaching: there’s a story, but there’s never an end to it. You insert your own interpretation into it.”
While Bob’s carvings “recognize characteristics from humanity that reflect through animal behaviour,” McWhinney’s whimsical ‘Interruption on the Rocks’ interprets, from the bear’s perspective, that “subtle human-wildlife interaction of the subject of the photo and the interloper—photographer.”
“The bear was very focused on the salmon coming upstream when a couple of people began talking and excitedly taking pictures, which sadly distracted the bear from its next meal,” says McWhinney. “I captured this moment, with my camera, and decided to paint this human-bear interaction, even though you only see the bear despondently sitting on the rocks.”
“Since I have gotten to know Signy and her work, I find that when I am out on the water on a beautifully sunny day I think of her, as I see her paintings when the light reflects off the waves.”
“Signy, as an accomplished artist and gallery owner, has a unique perspective on the art world and the obstacles that artists face,” says sculptor Jeff Edwards.
“We all owe her as a community a debt of gratitude.”