TOM WILSON

 Acclaimed Canadian musician, author, playwriter and Order of Canada recipient Tom Wilson has been painting for over 30 years. 

Wilson had always painted images that came to him in childhood dreams. Strong, bold Indigenous-styled imagery often etched with words from his music and writing. At the time, his daughter called it cultural appropriation, he simply said, I paint what I feel, what I know. Little did he know that he was painting from his truth – his blood memory – a concept where ancestral experiences and knowledge are passed down biologically through genetics.

Beautiful Scars, the play and the autobiography, tells the story of a chance encounter at 55 years of age that changed the course of his life. He learned the truth that he was adopted and his birth mother was Mohawk from the Kahnawàke reserve outside of Montreal. The Kahnawàke people gave him the name TEHOHÀHAKE, meaning Two Roads, expressing the duality of his life. Since this discovery, Wilson has reconnected with his identify and explored themes of resilience and survival, reflected in his vibrant and intensely detailed works.

Hamilton born Juno-award winning musician, author and playwriter Tom Wilson (1959), TEHOHÀHAKE, is a self-taught painter. Wilson’s first museum exhibition was held in 2018 at the Art Gallery of Burlington and most recently at the McMichael Gallery. Represented in Hamilton by Beckett Fine Art, his art has been acquired by private and public collectors across North America.

Renowned for his music, art and literary contributions, he intertwines tradition with contemporary insight. Through his melodies, paintings and words, he invokes ancestral wisdom while addressing the pressing issues of our time. His artistry serves as a bridge between past and present, inviting reflection and dialogue on the complexities of Indigenous identity and resilience. In 2023, Wilson was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to the arts and advocacy for Canadian Indigenous communities.