Super Natural Eye II
The Seventh
The sculpture Super Natural Eye, by KWÍKWI: Lauren Brevner and James Nexw’Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry, was originally created for an exhibition entitled The Seventh, that was presented at the Or Gallery from October 2023 to February, 2024 and curated by Jenn Jackson. The exhibition The Seventh, represents the transformative potential to share knowledge with future generations.
Brevner’s practice is deeply inspired by her Japanese and Trinidadian heritage as well as matriarchal influences, while Harry’s practice combines traditional Sḵwx̱wú7mesh histories, forms and designs.
Lauren and James spent time with elders, knowledge keepers and storytellers from each of their communities to build this exhibition.
They learned that their daughter’s birth marked the seventh generation since European contact on this territory.
From James’ grandmother, Gwen Mildren Harry, they learned that the number seven holds significant connection with past and future reciprocity. To enact powerful change, one must always be thinking seven generations ahead of one’s own life. They also learned that it takes seven generations for a past wound or trauma to heal.
This learning opened conversation toward the story of the great Thunderbird and the symbolism of its seven symmetrical tail feathers.
The three feathers on the Thunderbird that reach to the left represent the past, the central feather represents the present, and the three feathers spreading out to the right represent the future.
The vocabulary that connects Brevner and Harry to this territory centres on the guiding principles of the Salish Eye—a concept of seeing beyond or looking inward to connect with the watchful presence of past and future ancestors.
Teachings of the Salish Eye as a visual language have been generously shared with Brevner and Harry, by James’ father, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh artist and master carver, Xwalacktun. The Salish Eye is a foundational tenet of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh design language: the insinuation of movement which emphasizes direction and the flowing of energy from one place to another.
The Salish Eye is made up of the three primary markers of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh visual language: the crescent, circle, and trigon. Together these forms build rhythms outward from a central node. Each form sequentially impacts the next, building complexity beyond the original gesture. As the gesture expands outward, the potential for powerful energy transference exponentially grows.
Super Natural Eye invites community to awaken stories of the land. Stories that date back thousands of years and have marked this territory and beyond.
The column is marked by a hand carved exterior reminiscent of charred cedar, Super Natural Eye evokes the sensation of gathering around the hot embers of fire, of magma erupting from the ground, and subsequently, of the new growth that emerges from a forest that has been engulfed in flames, representing monumental markings within the natural world over millennia.
Adapted text, The Seventh
Courtesy of the Or Gallery
About the Artists
James Nexw’Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry (b. 1989, Vancouver, BC) is a visual artist known for pushing the boundaries of tradition in Coast Salish art. His work evolves in innovative world-building through Salish form and design and articulates ancestral knowledge, cultural understanding and reconciliation.Born to a family of artists, Harry learned Indigenous stories, Salish design and carving from his father Xwalacktun, a master carver of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation. He received a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and exhibited an extensive body of work with his partner Lauren Brevner in The Seventh at Or Gallery. Harry has developed a rich public art practice, promoting a return to the land in contemporary Salish form
Lauren Brevner (b. 1989, Canada) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her work is deeply inspired by her Japanese-Trinidadian heritage and investigates matriarchal influence with a focus on female representation and themes of cultural identity. Brevner’s education has been nurtured through community relations and she completed a mentorship with artist and designer Sin Nakayamal in Osaka, Japan. Her work has been presented in various group exhibitions, civic projects, and publications, and her private commissions have been collected internationally. She exhibited an extensive body of work in The Seventh with partner James Harry at the Or Gallery in 2023, and continues to collaborate with Harry on public art and large-scale mural commissions.