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Graham Pettman

BiographyGraham Pettman is known as soapstone carver of figures and animals, and as a painter in oils. Born of a British father and a Cree mother, he grew up in Cree culture, living in Fort Vermilion, Peace River and Yellowknife, NWT. He was particularly influenced by his grandfather, a trapper, herbalist and shaman who lived the old ways. Graham has been nomadic for most of his life, and joined the army after leaving school, which allowed him to travel throughout Canada.

He had always enjoyed sketching, and an encounter with A.Y. Jackson in Yellowknife inspired him to attend the Alberta College of Art in 1965. After 18 months there, he returned to travelling across both the west and east of Canada, including to Expo ‘67 in Montreal. Continuously studying and sketching those around him, he took note of contemporary social movements, and his brightly-coloured paintings were social commentaries. Images of hands and interconnectedness, family, earth and spirit are dominant themes in his work. In the 1970s, he began wood carving, producing Cree talking sticks, the images emerging spontaneously from the shape of the wood. In 1982, he took up stone carving, inspired by the natural shape of stone.

Graham’s approach is intuitive, symbolic and even surrealistic. “I do not wish to explain, as my pieces are for people to learn from as they progress through their own personal journey.” He has had exhibits in Kelowna, Banff, Edmonton, and at the Webster Gallery, Calgary. He is represented in BC at Marion Scott (Vancouver) and Pegasus Gallery, Salt Spring Island. A five-foot-tall sculpture of his, “Dance the Child for the Earth,” is installed in a community complex in Kamloops.

His works appear in many private and corporate collections in Canada, the US and Europe. “Each piece is created to go where they will do the most good,” he says. “The stone and canvas are only passing through my hands for a short time.”