Benjamin “Beau” Dick is one of Canada’s most important artists of the last century. A Kwakwaka’wakw carver, culture bearer, and political activist, Beau seamlessly blended these aspects of his life into his artistic practice in a way that was both instructive and accessible to the Canadian public. Beau came from a long line of artists and was a master of several regional styles of Northwest Coast art as well as different styles from across time, often incorporating imagery or stories from other cultures. Many of his pieces, particularly his later masks, were grand monuments that played with scale and depicted supernatural beings as being truly monstrous.

This smaller, earlier mask depicts Ba̱k’wa̱s (Bookwoos), a frequent subject matter of Beau’s that is also known as the Wild Man of the Woods. Ba̱k’wa̱s has been described as a being that “lurks on the edges of forests and streams and entices humans to eat his spirit food, which will lead them into the spirit world. He wears the skulls of former victims, a stark reminder to keep one’s wits about one during the dangerous winters. In dances, the dramatic, slick movements of the Ba̱k’wa̱s remind audiences of the seductive and dangerous nature of this powerful being.” [1] This impish mask showcases Beau’s sensitive painting and sculpting skills while also displaying his wonderful sense of humour. Here, the normally pointed ears of the Ba̱k’wa̱s have migrated to become horns on the forehead of the mask, alluding to other wild men such as Pan or Faun. Beau has blended together the classic skeletal nose, hollow eyes, and bared teeth of the Ba̱k’wa̱s with these other influences to make an unsettling but arresting composition.

1. Dick, Beau, LaTiesha Fazakas, John Cussans, and Candice Hopkins. 2019. Beau Dick: Devoured by Consumerism. London; Berkeley; Vancouver: Figure.1, 62.