The latest work from Louie Gong (Nooksack), Black Sheep is about drawing power from past experiences— even traumas. “It’s about self-care,” says Louie.

“I’ve been thinking about the term baggage, and it’s all wrong,” says Louie. “When we think about our past experiences as something we can just put down, we can’t actually heal. The real pathway to becoming stronger and more confident versions of ourselves is to learn to live in symbiosis with our past experiences.”

The Black Sheep’s body is composed of Louie’s signature wolf-mouth motif, which he uses here to symbolize negative past experiences. It is painted loosely to indicate the frequent movement of and the idea that our past experiences are living parts of us that we can’t simply set down as if they were “baggage.”

By contrast, the Black Sheep’s face is composed of highly structured Coast Salish design elements to indicate the self-confidence drawn from the understanding that past experiences make us better equipped to manage whatever lies ahead. A few understated sprouts indicate constant growth regardless of what we are experiencing.

This archival print of Louie’s original painting is printed right here in our Seattle studio on acid-free paper.

Giclée fine art print (unframed)
Open edition; made by Eighth Generation
20" x 16" artwork size (w/ 1" border on the top and sides and a 2.5" border on the bottom: total print size including margins = 22" x 19.5".)
Canson Aquarelle Rag 310 gsm paper meets the highest archival standards
Professionally packaged and shipped flat
Hand signed by the artist
Eighth Generation’s fine art prints include "AC" for "Artist Centered." This unique denotation references our purposeful effort to align business practices with artist interests rather than collector interests.
Original work is mixed media: watercolor, acrylic, coffee, ink, spray paint

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