Birth Announcement of Ben by Robert Davidson

Silkscreen Print

7" x 5 1/2"

1976

Edition of 385

On April 6, 1976, following Benjamin's birth, Davidson walked out of the hospital and saw the half moon shining in the night sky. He had been designing the announcement card but at the sight of the moon he reworked it to reference the four members of his family as human faces within the moon, with Ben as the top figure represented with the half moon present at the night of his birth. Susan and Sara are depicted with labrets, a reference to women of status.

In the centre of the design is a subtle star form that joins the circles together and references the star forms painted on top of spruce root hats. This was achieved by printing the star in red and overprinting with blue, a technique that would inspire innovation in Davidson's and other Northwest Coast artists' prints. It became known as "ghost forms", used to visualize the supernatural realm.

Wyatt, Gary, and Robert Davidson. Echoes of the Supernatural: The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson. Figure 1 Publishing, 2022.