AWAKEN THE SPIRITS

Through merging anthropomorphic spirit figures, sharp Woodlands linework, and impressionist colour influenced by powwow regalia, I build on visual systems established by early Anishinaabe artists in a contemporary context. Working through layered compositions informed by symbolic imagery, I engage with storytelling traditions, depicting Manitou figures and ancestral beings within Anishinaabe territories.

Drake Williams (b. 1995) is an Anishinaabe oil painter and member of Rama First Nation now based in Toronto. His work draws from ancient visual storytelling traditions, including pictographs, petroglyphs, and birch bark scrolls, and is informed by sacred sites such as the Mnjikaning Fishing Weirs and the Teaching Rocks. Influenced by the early Woodlands art movement in Ontario, Williams focuses on cultural continuity and relationships between land, humans, and animals.