Richmond BC, Canada #richmondartgallerybc
Connie Watts adapts her art to conform to any space, yet no single niche or category can contain Connie Watts. Her work is both art and design. Her furniture references the fabulous images of her heritage and the traditions of her culture.
“Everything is a circle. In school I learned about form and function, a very Western approach. I turn this back into my own culture, where I use form to delineate space. Then I circle back again, exchanging the historic massive wood carvings that played with the light and shadow, and recaptured beauty of form with everyday plywood. Reusing the everyday and transforming it into something precious, a very Northwest Coast approach to life. I am of First Nations descent. Maternally I am Tseshaht (Nuu-Chah-Nulth) and Mamalilikla (Kwakwakawakwa), and paternally, Gitxsan. I grew up in Campbell River.”
Connie Watts graduated from ECIAD with a B.F.A. in Intermedia. In addition, she received a Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Manitoba. Watts has exhibited across Canada and in the United States. She was artist-in-residence at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario and has received awards and grants for her computer animation, Witness. Hetux, a large Thunderbird sculpture, is in the collection of the Vancouver International Airport.
