About the print:

ʔiiḥtuup (remarque)

March 2021 

In Winter 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, artist Tlehpik Hjalmer Wenstob was offered an opportunity to take a virtual screen-printing course through Wachiay Studios. ʔiiḥtuup is the first run of prints to be made through this course. It is a hand-pulled silkscreen print, with the red elements hand-coloured remarque by Hjalmer. There are 50 prints in this run, all signed and numbered. The design of the print - ʔiiḥtuup – is inspired by Nuu-chah-nulth whaling history, as well as geometric designs found in traditional house screens. A large inspiration of Hjalmer’s work comes from his late friend Art Thompson, a renowned Nuu-chah-nulth artist. 

The print was pulled on a low-mesh count screen, which provided some challenges when it came to the screen-printing techniques. The plan initially had been to wait to produce the run on a higher quality screen; yet, a community loss in Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations in February 2021, led to a desire by Hjalmer for a print to auction off for a fundraiser.

The print was pulled under lockdown in Ty-Histanis, B.C., by Hjalmer Wenstob, with assistance from his partner Annika, and under the supervision of his two young children, Huumiis & Cinkwa.