Meet December Artist of the Month: KC Hall

When it comes to KC Hall’s artistic process, the gears are always turning. “Once I start something, it has to be done before I walk away. When I’m going through the whole process nonstop, I’m enjoying what I’ve done, and there’s no time to disagree with myself. If I walk away from something unfinished, it gives me too much time to overthink what I just did,” says Hall.

Hall’s philosophy of nonstop creating and not overcomplicating stems from his past growing up in the graffiti scene. Doing graffiti taught Hall that he had to move quickly and be content in walking away from what he just created. “Being a young graffiti artist in my teen years and doing the best I could to stay out of trouble, was by moving quick. Being quick on my feet and quick on my hands,” says Hall.

‘Never Above nor Below’ By KC Hall

Since Hall’s graffiti days, he’s become a Northwest Coast Formline Artist, fusing graffiti with Indigenous art. “I’m from Bella Bella, which is [Heiltsuk Nation territory] Central Westcoast, [British Columbia]. I had this insane passion for doing graffiti, and then when I discovered Northwest Coast Formline eight years ago, it was almost the exact same exhilaration to want to create that kind of art. I’m still studying Northwest Coast Formline to this day because I still have a lot to learn, and I’m incorporating those styles into my style now.”

Hailzaqv Wildstyle by KC Hall

The unique mix of traditional artistic style with Hall’s colourful and abstract additions makes for eye-popping art. Two themes you’ll always find in his pieces are the Raven and a rope. “I use [the Raven] because it is part of my family crest and our lineage. The Raven has so many different stories behind what he’s done. The rope signifies every single thing I have created is tied together as one,” says Hall.

Including the Raven and rope in each of his paintings is inspired by his great-great-grandfather, Robert Bell. Bell was a carver and a painter known for always painting red hands and feet on his carvings of humans and animals. Hall says as an ode to Bell and tradition, “I wanted to follow suit in that. Down the road, when I’m long gone, people will see a painting with the rope, and the Raven, that has graffiti and will know it’s my art.”

‘Into the Darkness’ by KC Hall

Continuing with tradition, Hall dedicates much of his time to revitalizing Indigenous culture, language, and pride with youth in his community. “I was able to use my artwork to kind of weave it into doing stuff with the youth,” says Hall. For one, Hall has published 30 children’s Heiltsuk Nation language books. The first series of 20 books link to culture and tradition with single word images. They cover “the crests of our people, the weather, clothing, [etc.] and then the second set of 10 books are phrases. So [kids learn phrases] like, I am happy, today it is snowing, [etc.],” Hall explains. These books are also in video form on YouTube, where you’ll hear Hall say the word or phrase in English, and his aunt repeats it in their traditional language.

Hall is also involved in youth graffiti workshops. In one workshop, he teaches kids how to spray paint their name in their language or word of choice onto a canvas. In another workshop, he helps facilitate a youth skateboard building workshop with artist, filmmaker, and lands-based educator Calder Cheverie. Cheverie teaches the kids how to build a board from scratch, and Hall teaches them how to custom paint their skateboards. “There’s such a positive outcome seeing how happy those kids are. It’s very rewarding,” says Hall.

The trendsetter (9ft x 6ft) by KC Hall

This year, Hall has brought his passions of art and community youth work into starting an Indigenous-owned clothing company, HstryMkrs, with his cousin. They envision a future tied to rewriting Indigenous history: “I want to encourage the youth to make the moves and to write the history that their kids and grandkids are going to read about. I want [Indigenous youth] to set the greatest example they can for our people. One of the best steps to do that is to let them know they can be business owners. They can be successful artists. They can do whatever they set their minds to.” 

With their brand, HstryMkrs, they aim to build a collective for youth to aspire to be role models and set the tone for the future. “When people read about Indigenous people 20 or 30 years from now, this is what they will be reading about. All the positive things we’ve done in life,” says Hall.

You can see Hall’s art on Instagram and may walk by some of his various murals (The Clash of Cultures, Raven Transformation, House of Hoops, etc.) around Vancouver. Check out HstryMkrs on Instagram and Facebook for some holiday giveaways coming soon.