Eclipse

Print Method: Giclée
Edition: 99
Released: September 2017
Paper Size: 17" x 17.1"

I remember as a child walking home from school afraid to look up into the sky. In the lead up to that solar eclipse, we had been bombarded with warnings about the potential effects of directly peering at the celestial event. Knowing that I could go blind, I opted not to look at the sky at all. Almost forty years later, I finally got my chance to experience part of this rare event.

No matter where you were on the path of this year’s total eclipse, if you saw any of it, it affected you. Though my homelands only got to witness a partial eclipse, it was memorable. It reminds you of your place in the world—how small we really are. How our place in the cosmos is so infinitesimally tiny, that we shouldn’t matter. But we do. From the largest solar system to the smallest quark, we help make up the universe.

My ancestors called total eclipses “na̱ǥa̱kw” or “swallowed” in our language as they believed that the sun was being consumed by a giant creature. In response, each person in the village would put old clothing, mats or hair on an enormous fire in order to smoke the creature out. While the fire burned they cried out with requests for the creature to hux̱w’id, or “vomit”. The disgorgement of the sun meant success on their part. It was their way of reminding themselves that what they do really does make a difference. In these days of immense climate change, we must reminds ourselves that, yes, we do effect change…and this tiny blue dot we call earth really does matter.

“Eclipse” is a limited edition print using the giclée method of printmaking. This print was released in September of 2017 and printed by Andy Everson at the artist’s own studio in Comox B.C. A total of 109 prints bear the title “Eclipse” and are signed by Andy Everson: 99 in the primary edition bearing the numbers 1/99 through 99/99; 9 Artist’s Proof; and 1 Printer’s Proof. The acid-free 100% cotton rag paper measures  about 17x17.1 inches. Image size measures about 15.5x15.5 inches.