ISABEL RORICK (1955-) HAIDA, OLD MASSET, HAIDA GWAII

Isabel Rorick was born in 1955 in Old Massett, Haida Gwaii. She comes from a long line of weavers including her mother, Primrose Adams, her grandmother Florence Davidson, her great grandmother, Isabella Edenshaw, her paternal grandmother Selina Peratrovich, her aunt Delores Churchill and her two cousins April and Holly Churchill. She began weaving at the age of 13 with the bundles of cedar bark that were plentiful in her grandmother’s house. She would join her grandmother Selina Peratrovich in Ketchikan and, under her direction begin to weave spruce root. She would settle in the southern Gulf Islands, raise her family and make frequent trips to Haida Gwaii for family and to harvest spruce root. Her son, Robin, would become a frequent collaborator, painting intricate formline designs onto some of her hats and baskets.

Early in her career, she would lead a campaign to have weaving represented as a fine art medium and included in major exhibitions documenting excellence in Northwest Coast art. She was a strong supporter of galleries which have secured commissions, validated her prices and exposed her work to the collectors of the art form. Her work has been included in the following books and exhibitions: Challenging Traditions – Contemporary First Nation Art of the Northwest Coast (2010) by Ian Thom documenting the exhibition curated for the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver / Whistler; Native Vision – Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century (1998) by Steven Brown, exhibition hosted by the Seattle Art Museum and represented collections within Washington State; Raven Travelling – Two Centuries of Haida Art (2008), by Daina Augaitis and Marianne Jones, hosted by the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2016, The Stonington Gallery in Seattle hosted the exhibition “Roots that Connect Us All – Isabel Rorick, Robin Rorick, a Mother and Son Collaboration.”

Rorick’s woven works which include hats, baskets and rattles often include dense patterns which are based on historic examples and derived from the natural world – snowflakes, slug trails, lightning bolts, animal tracks and spider webs. The designs are frequently determined with consultation with her sister Merle who will channel ancestral memories to begin the creative process. Painted designs are added by Robin Rorick or in collaboration with other artists such as Robert Davidson. Major pieces require months of dedicated weaving to produce. Spruce root is a fine material but also offers structure, durability and functionality. She has demonstrated her skill as a weaver by asking a volunteer to hold out their hand and close their eyes – a large basket will sit on the hand with the weight of a feather. This hat includes a single ermine pelt which was traditionally added to chief’s headdresses as a symbol of status and position.