OIB emerging artist Taylor Baptiste inspired by land and Syilx culture

The Syilx word for chickadee is also the Okanagan name of OIB member and elder Helen Gallagher. Artist Taylor Baptiste gave this piece to Gallagher when Baptiste left her role as Indigenous Education Advocate in School District 53 to attend university in Vancouver. It is made with buckskin leather, and acrylic paint. (Richard McGuire Photo)

Taylor Baptiste, an emerging artist from the Osoyoos Indian Band, opened her first solo exhibition at The Art Gallery Osoyoos on Saturday, May 7. The show, “We Are of The Land,” runs until Saturday, May 28, 2022.

Baptiste is the daughter of Richard and Colleen Baptiste and she grew up in Nk’Mip between the mountains and Osoyoos Lake. She draws inspiration from that land and from Syilx Okanagan Nation culture and traditions.

She is currently wrapping up her second year of study at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, pursuing a degree in Fine Arts.

Her work incorporates natural materials, which connect her to her cultural teachings and home territory – for example, creating paintings on buckskin in place of canvas, or extracting ochre, a natural paint, from the soils.

The Art Gallery Osoyoos is located at 8713 Main Street, Osoyoos, just west of Town Hall. It is open Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Covid safety precautions are in place.

Click on thumbnail images below to see in Virtual Gallery. Use arrow keys to flip through images. Click on images to see title at top.

This portrait of artist Taylor Baptiste’s great great grandparents Margaret and Manuel Louie uses seed beads on birch bark. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This portrait of artist Taylor Baptiste’s great grandmother Victoria Baptiste uses seed beads on birch bark. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This portrait of artist Taylor Baptiste’s paternal grandfather Francis Jim Baptiste uses seed beads on birch bark. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This linocut print by Taylor Baptiste is based on Syilx Okanagan tradition and culture. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This drum represents the heart beat of the land and people. It is made using elk rawhide, wood frame and sinew. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This is a vessel to collect and gather things you love, made from buckskin leather, seed beads and antler. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This drum represents the heart beat of the land and people. Bitterroot is one of the Okanagan Nation’s Four Food Chiefs. The drum is made using elk rawhide, wood frame and sinew. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Artist Taylor Baptiste enjoys the natural beauty of raw materials and she makes the decision to leave some rattles and drums unpainted. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Artist Taylor Baptiste created this piece to celebrate and build a stronger relationship with her body. Seed beads, buckskin on embroidery hoop.. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Cedar is not traditional to the Okanagan, but this piece of wood was given to Taylor Baptiste to carve. She used only hand tools. The paddle is painted with acrylic. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste harvested ochre, a natural pigment from the soil, to make natural paint. She made five linocut prints in the shape of the Syilx Okanagan territory. With each print, the paint behaved differently, in the same way the land is a living being. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste harvested ochre, a natural pigment from the soil, to make natural paint. She made five linocut prints in the shape of the Syilx Okanagan territory. With each print, the paint behaved differently, in the same way the land is a living being. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste harvested ochre, a natural pigment from the soil, to make natural paint. She made five linocut prints in the shape of the Syilx Okanagan territory. With each print, the paint behaved differently, in the same way the land is a living being. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste harvested ochre, a natural pigment from the soil, to make natural paint. She made five linocut prints in the shape of the Syilx Okanagan territory. With each print, the paint behaved differently, in the same way the land is a living being. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste harvested ochre, a natural pigment from the soil, to make natural paint. She made five linocut prints in the shape of the Syilx Okanagan territory. With each print, the paint behaved differently, in the same way the land is a living being. (Richard McGuire Photo)
The design on this sculpture is based on Taylor Baptiste’s personal interpretation of pictographs. It is based on a traditional story of Turtle and Eagle. Ochre paint on basalt rock. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Taylor Baptiste chose to display materials she uses in her art – ochre pigment, jars, mortar and pestle. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This painting using ochre pigment pigment on canvas symbolizes the layers or soil within the land. It is also inspired by the several years Taylor Baptiste spent working summers at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, which is built with layers or rammed earth. (Richard McGuire Photo)
This basalt rock sculpture is based on pictographs and tells the story of how Chipmunk got its stripes. Ochre paint, basalt rock. (Richard McGuire Photo)
Sometimes the rattle is used instead of a drum for a softer, gentler sound. Taylor Baptiste made this from buckskin rawhide, sinew, pebbles and antler. (Richard McGuire Photo)

Author: Richard McGuire

Richard McGuire is an Osoyoos photographer who worked at the Osoyoos Times between 2012 and 2018, first as reporter and then as editor. He has a long career in journalism as well as research, communication and management at the House of Commons in Ottawa and in the federal government.