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Multi media artist brings show home

When Sechelt native artist Dionne Paul was contacted recently at her North Vancouver home, she was grinding glass. Not such a strange endeavour for this third year Emily Carr College of Fine Arts student. She works with stained glass.

When Sechelt native artist Dionne Paul was contacted recently at her North Vancouver home, she was grinding glass. Not such a strange endeavour for this third year Emily Carr College of Fine Arts student. She works with stained glass. She also works with deerhide, metal, cedar and fabric. In fact, her solo show at the Tems Swiya Museum in Sechelt will open on Oct. 9 with an array of media including her paintings, acrylic on canvas, drawings, photography, metalwork, drums, baskets and textiles. "I'm a fine arts shapeshifter," she says.

She creates contemporary West Coast art that draws from her heritage: her Sechelt Nation background and her Nuxalk Nation roots, near Bella Coola. Her conceptual art focuses on issues of importance to her, such as a residential school experience based on family history and a visible portrayal of drug addiction. She has shown her work before in Vancouver's Yaletown and on Granville Island, but this show is special. "It's my first coming home show," she explains. "That's one of the reasons we're having it in the museum. It's important to show that our culture is not stagnant; we are still creating."

She would particularly like school kids to come to the show. After attending school in Sechelt, she knows the importance of a good art teacher. She had one in Enid Goodman, and while Paul was in Grade 12 she was already helping the elementary schools kids with their art. Now, with an 8-year-old son at home who likes to help her, she understands even more the importance of involving children.

The show, which runs through Nov. 30, is being launched on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 4 p.m. on a day of celebration of self-government for the Sechelt Nation. The public is invited to view the show at the Tems Swiya Museum beside the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt.