Luke Parnell is Wilp Laxgiik Nisga’a from Gingolx on his mother’s side and Haida from Massett on his Father’s side. His training has involved a traditional apprenticeship with a Master Northwest Coast Indigenous carver, a BFA from OCAD, and an MAA from ECUAD. His artistic practice explores the relationship between Northwest Coast Indigenous oral histories and Northwest Coast Indigenous art, with a focus on transformation narratives. With an understanding of visual language as a material expression related to experience, Parnell’s artworks contain traditional and contemporary symbols, where meaning is related to the materials, methods, forms, and context of the works. Parnell’s work has been exhibited at the MacLaren Art Centre (2011), the National Gallery of Canada (2014), the Biennial of Contemporary Native Art in Montreal (2016), the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery (2018), and more. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre and the International Cervantino Festival. His first solo exhibition at MKG127, Indigenous History in Colour, traveled on to the Bill Reid Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2021 and the Art Gallery of Ontario acquired seven paintings from the exhibition.
- Atieno L., “Reconciliation & Transformation in Luke Parnell’s debut exhibition Indigenous History in Colour,” SAD Magazine, March 15, 2021.
- Janet Smith, “Luke Parnell’s Indigenous History in Colour brings more than a blast of neon to Bill Reid Gallery,” Create a Stir, February 2, 2021.
- David Owen Rama, “Northwest Coast art style reimagined in new Luke Parnell exhibition,” Toronto Star, February 1, 2021.
- Danielle Rochette, “Indigenous artist carves 7 foot totem to reignite his heritage,” APTN News, June 6, 2016.
- “Canada, my how you’ve changed: Shine A Light at the National Gallery of Canada illuminates landscapes dramatically transformed,” Mixed Bag Mag, March 8, 2015.
- Erin McPhee, “Transformations that speak to the present: Luke Parnell at Seymour Art Gallery,” North Shore News, August 2, 2013.