short bio

Marika Echachis Swan/ ƛ̓upinup (Tla-o-qui-aht/ Nuu-chah-nulth) is a mother, artist, and community arts organizer of mixed Tla-o-qui-aht, Scottish, and Irish descent. Her main creative practice explores feminist Nuu-chah-nulth values through woodblock printmaking, often layered with other visual arts techniques such as carving, stencil, and photography.

Long Bio

Marika Echachis Swan / ƛ̓upinup is a mother and artist of mixed Tla-o-qui-aht, Scottish and Irish descent. Her main creative practice is woodblock printmaking, often layered with other visual arts techniques such as carving, stencil and photography. With no formal arts training, Marika has developed her own contemporary take on the iconic Nuu-chah-nulth aesthetic through mentorship, study and fearless experimentation. Her evocative work is a voice for Nuu-chah-nulth cultural values from an uncompromising, feminist perspective.

Currently based out of her home territory of Tla-o-qui-aht (surrounding Tofino, BC), Marika balances her creative practice with various community arts projects. For several years, Marika was working closely with the development of the Carving on the Edge Festival creating an elevated platform to celebrate both the traditional and contemporary coastal carving arts. Through her work with the festival, Marika began developing a community led research project called The Nuu-chah-nulth Living Archive, locating and documenting the vast bodies of ancestral belongings and materials from her community that are now held in various museums and institutions all over the world. In it’s current evolution, it hosts information on hundreds of belongings, audio recordings, archival photos and songs on a private database for Nuu-chah-nulth community members, creating a virtual space for shared ownership and knowledge sharing. Through this project, Marika is actively creating deeper connections with local culture keepers to stimulate community discussion and cultural revitalization. The Nuu-chah-nulth Living Archive works in partnership with the Tla-o-qui-aht Repatriation Committee - of which Marika is a founding member - as well as various other local cultural education initiatives.

Through engaging with these ancestral treasures, Marika has studied traditional Tla-o-qui-aht form and style extensively. Following in the wake of artists like her father Joe David that took such sincere care in reviving the purity and perfection of classic traditional form, Marika continues to push the art form into new spaces. Still rooted in Nuu-chah-nulth world views, her work speaks directly to the stories that are relevant to her community now.

exhibitions

2023/4 George Clutesi: ḥašaḥʔap/ʔaapḥii/ʕac̓ik/ḥaaʔaksuqƛ/ʔiiḥmisʔap
Alberni Valley Museum and Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver BC

2022 A Well-Made Object, Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver BC

2021 Holding Ground, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC

2020 The Time of Things, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay BC

2020 B.A.T. State III: Women Artists in Conversation with El Nopal Press, LA

2020 Continuum: The Inuit Gallery at 40, Vancouver BC

2019 Matriarchs, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC

currently 2018 YVR Art Scholarship Exhibition, YVR Airport, Vancouver BC

2019 qaʔyexʷ Women and Waterways, Bill Reid Gallery, Vancouver BC

2019 Women Artists Changing Collections, Legacy Art Gallery, Victoria BC

2018                The Time of Things, Legacy Art Gallery, Victoria BC

2017                Cultural imPRINT, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA

2015                Resurgence, Stonington Art Gallery, Seattle WA

2015                A Gathering of Spirits, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria BC

2014                Interweavings, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond BC

2013                Becoming Worthy, (Solo) Pacific Rim Whale Festival, Tofino BC

2009                Paper Tigers, Perel Gallery, Vancouver BC

2008                YVR Art Scholarship Exhibition, YVR Airport, Vancouver BC

2007               Crazymaking, Gallery Gachet, Vancouver BC