Artwork copyright Susan Point. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Susan Point. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Susan Point. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Four Corners, 1999

Susan Point
(Canadian | Musqueam, born 1952)

Location: North Seattle College, Seattle

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Four Corners is a large-scale wall mural created by Musqueam artist Susan Point as a site-specific installation at North Seattle College. The mural depicts human faces and water running through the background. They are executed in an Indigenous Coast Salish artistic style as tribute to the Indigenous communities that lived in the area and the "new diverse ethnic population of the college and the surrounding community." The artist notes that the faces "symbolically represent all ethnic backgrounds or races of people from all 'four corners' of the planet as well as paying tribute to the peoples of the past, present and future...The water in the background represent the springs and wetlands of this site. The terra cotta color represents the clay found in these springs. This red clay was used by the first peoples for paint, pottery and spiritual ceremony."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Seattle Community College.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Susan Point is a celebrated First Nations Musqueam artist working in the Coast Salish tradition of her ancestors. She is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which is the traditional territory of the Musqueam.
Point creates fine art and public sculptural artworks in a variety of media. The use of her ancestral visual language is complemented by contemporary concepts, non traditional materials, and innovative design elements. She notes, "Coast Salish art has forever been a way to honour and remember significant details of our social lives. My hope is that my children remember to tell not only our cultural accounts, but also their own stories as well."