Black Crows - David MorrisseauAcrylic on Canvas, 2008
Private Collection
Alfred David Morrisseau
Toronto, Ontario
I am the eldest son of Norval Morrisseau. I was born in the Red Lake area. My father, for a time, worked at the mine in Cochenour. Our family home was mostly on McKenzie Island, that is where I went to school.
My mother's name was Harriet. Her family name was Kagegamic. I actually know as much about my mother's family as my father's. Three of her brothers worked with my father to form the Triple K Co-op. The one uncle still alive is Goyce.
My father was always a painter. No matter what he did he painted. They tell the story in Red Lake that he would paint all the time he was at work for the mine in Cochenour, he even painted some of the machines.
We were and are a close family. Four of my brothers and sisters still live in Keewaywin where my mother and father are buried. Whenever one of my brothers has an exhibition they always see to it that the gallery also shows my work. I paint and live in Toronto, Ontario. I have had exhibitions at the Empire gallery, Maslak McLeod, Art Cube and Soho gallery.
My father moved to Winnipeg about 1976. When that happened I would live with my mother on McKenzie Island and go to school there in the winter and live with my father in the summer. My father as a painter and shaman was always on the go. He lived everywhere in Canada and became a famous man.