Artist Simone Diamond has completed the design of a new logo for the Chemainus & District Chamber of Commerce.
“As a young female Coast Salish artist, my style is a representation of where I come from and who I am,” she explained. “It is the product of something that was almost lost to assimilation through residential schools and the sixties scoop.
“In my family, the artistry began with my uncle Douglas Lafortune who had a dream to become a famous artist. My father, Francis Horne Sr., fully credits my uncle for the line of artists that were created, all because he was a dreamer and wanted to pursue it. My dad followed my uncle’s lead, both apprenticing under the late Simon Charlie. They would go on to develop their careers to what they are today. My dad is considered a master carver, having carved and developed his clean and elegant style over the course of 50 years.”
Diamond noted her style is her own feminine rendition of the Coast Salish art, developed throughout her life by growing up around carving, being in the woodshed, experiencing galleries, studying other art styles and experimenting over the years with the standard Salish shapes.
“It truly is a way for me to share my spirit with others,” she enthused.
Diamond went on to explain the representation of the animals in the logo that include an eagle, salmon and whale are a representation of the three communities local to Chemainus – the Stz’uminus First Nation, Penelakut Tribe and Halalt First Nation.
“The sun in the design is what binds all of us together,” she added. “We all share the sun, we live under the same light and darkness from the same sources. Adding a face to it is a representation of the spirit that the sun holds. As Indigenous people, we are taught that everything has a spirit, and adding a face in this design is the acknowledgment of that sacred spirit.”