Roy Henry Vickers and Lizzie Snow release second collaborative artwork

Indigenous artist Roy Henry Vickers and young Tofino-based New Zealand artist Lizzie Snow released their second collaborative work last week.

Titled “Yin Yang”, the piece illustrates contrasting symbology of coming together as one.

Snow, who uses the artist name ‘fortyonehundred’, said while their second collaboration doesn’t look at race specifically, it does reflect the togetherness of people despite differences.

“Roy and I are different in lots of ways. Specifically, male and female energy, we are in really different points in our lives and careers, different cultures and different backgrounds, the idea is that even though we have lots of differences, being able to come together to create artwork full of meaning and symbolism that unites us and represents us both equally. It’s a really positive thing,” she explains.

“Yin Yang” builds on the success of their first collaboration “Earth Spirit”. The original painting, priced at $20,000.00, sold immediately at the reveal-event and the limited-edition prints become one of the top-selling artworks at the Roy Henry Vickers (RHV) Tofino gallery.

“It’s been a year since Lizzie Snow and I teamed up to create something unique. Here we are again with a progression from our first mandala, it’s been a very exciting project,” reads a Dec. 6 statement from Vickers.

“I appreciate our collaboration on many levels, such as, elder and younger artists working together, male and female bringing ideas to inspire each other and, the fusion of two different styles. I’ve learned that inspiration is divine and the end result of working with inspiration is a creation that is greater than the sum of all the parts. Lizzie, you are inspiring, thank you,” wrote Vickers.

For the creation of “Earth Spirit”, the artists were able to meet in-person a few times, but this time around due to COVID-19, Vickers and Snow worked on the project through a series of video calls and text messages.

“Also we could not have done it without [Casandra Katter], the gallery director. She’s been such a great professional moderator and has helped the whole thing come to life,” said Snow.

When Snow first moved to Tofino on Vancouver Island about three years ago, she got a job working at the RHV Gallery a couple days a week.

“Roy came down to Tofino for a staff dinner and he asked me about my art. I showed him some pictures and he had actually already seen some of my stuff online. We instantly connected and we started planning a collaboration from there,” Snow recalls.

She went on to say there is a real mutual respect working with Roy Henry Vickers, who was appointed both the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his work as an artist.

“On my side, there is just so much to learn from Roy. He’s had such an interesting life and career. What an honour to be able to hear his stories about First Nations culture, symbolism and rituals. I feel really luck and grateful to be able to have worked with Roy,” Snow expressed.

“Yin Yang” is a limited-edition creation of 80 prints that sells for $700, notes RHV Gallery director Katter. All prints are titled, numbered and signed by both artists.