Negik,
Star Otter
Paul Whittam
This image is meant to engage you and create an open dialogue on what it makes you feel.
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HONOURING THE CHILDREN Acrylic on Canvas, 24”x 24”
Biography
Paul Whittam is from the Sheshegwaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island. He was adopted when he was ten weeks old. It was not until adulthood that he reconnected with his birth mother. Negik, which means Otter, is the spirit name that Paul Whittam was given by an Elder during a traditional naming ceremony. He creates art under the name Star Otter in a personal approach inspired by the Ojibwe Woodland style, sometimes with his spirit animal, the otter, appearing. Mostly self-taught, Whittam attended the Georgian College Art Fundamentals program and took art courses while earning an Indigenous Studies honors degree at Trent University.
“My goal is to bring beautiful Indigenous stories to people, shared through colour, imagery and form. When I create my work there will always be explanation given as to why the pieces were made and what the images represent. I want to use colour to heal. Medicine can come in many forms and my healing takes place through my work.”
Baamaapii
Statement
The Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) people believe that we come down from the stars and choose to live our life as a physical being here on earth with our family. When we are finished here, our spirits ascend back to the astral plane, where we continue on with the cycle. This means that life does not end. And only has a continuance of sorts. We return to our ancestors from generations past present and future within the star world.
My painting can be viewed in many ways. I will share, and then let the viewer interpret their own ideas on the subject. One, the main figure is one of our many ancestors welcoming the stars; residential school kid spirits to the spirit world, as the ancestor is surrounded by a welcoming glow of the Aurora borealis. Which relates to Peter's painting, the painting that preceded it. The main figure is the second concept. The main figure could be a residential school survivor waiting here on earth to return to the stars, to begin life anew and so he calls out to the ancestors.
This image is meant to engage you and create an open dialogue on what it makes you feel.
Every child matters.