With fascinating and delightful imagery, thoughtful and impressive compositions, and careful and intentional stitching, Jessie Oonark’s textile hangings truly stand out in the canon of her work. Her imagery is drawn from traditional life on the land, animals, and humans, implements, and spirits; it is by turns narrative, decorative, and symbolic. This lovely, small, and early work beautifully explores the spirit world. We know that Oonark was experimenting with images of bird-people as early as 1967-68 in her drawings (Lot 12, the wonderful print Dream of the Bird Woman, is based on a drawing from 1968), and similar images form important parts of some of her classic works on cloth (see First Arts, Toronto, 28 May 2019, Lot 24). And now we see this imagery reflected in an early textile work as well.

The charming bird-spirit figures are deceptively simple. Punctuated with understated chain stitches in bold colours nestled in the creamy white felt, they have a quietly compelling presence, stark and stately in their symmetry against the soft background. In contrast to Oonark’s later, more vibrantly coloured works, Birds Spirits has a muted palette, yet still has visual impact. We find hints of an already skilled hand in this work. It can be assumed that the birds are made of separate pieces of felt, but careful design and stitching has hidden any seams that could have been seen. But it is the imagery that moves and delights us here. The work is a harbinger of great things to come from Oonark’s imagination and artistic vision, but it is beguiling also as an enigmatic and magical little gem.