​Days of Plenty: An Archive of Abundance by David Ellingsen
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​Cowichan Public Art Gallery, 126 Ingram Street, Duncan V9L 1P1
Lower Gallery June 12 - September 12,  2026. 
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00-4:00
Opening, June 11, 7:00;   Artist Talk, June 20, 1:00.

The Family of Things (Great Grandpa George), digital collage, 19.5 x 17 in, 2023

Walking With Giants, digital collage, 30x24 in, 2023

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​One lucky day in 2020 David Ellingsen found a treasure. He was doing research in the Cortes Island Museum and Archives and spied a well-worn photo. The photo showed an elderly man holding a rifle, pointed towards his trophy, a lifeless black bear on the flatbed of a truck. Peering closer at the photo, Ellingsen realized the subject was his own Great Grandpa George. 
Connections whirled in his mind. If the photo was taken in the 1950s, the location must be Reef Point Farm, his family’s property on Cortes Island - the place he lived for the first 15 years of his life. “My Great Grampa George shot the last bear seen on our property,” exclaims Ellingsen. The other “found” photo of a child holding a rifle beside a teddy bear, is a poignant reminder how family lineage and expectations produce adult behaviour.
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Still the Sky, digital collage, 23x37 in, 2024

​This remarkable find at the Cortes Museum launched the photo-based artist on an international search for archival photos related to extinction of species and habitat loss. Photographs came from family archives, auctions, merchants and many public institutions. Ellingsen’s collection now includes 100s of photos, mixed and matched to make the 23 images in “Days of Plenty: An Archive of Abundance”. These composite images amalgamate and juxtapose photos to spotlight dramatic losses from hunting, fishing and logging around the world. The detailed scenes are enlarged and mounted without glass, so can be closely viewed by gallery guests.
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Consciousness Drawn from the Deep, digital collage, 14.5 x 20, 2026

Over the years, Ellingsen’s long-term projects on bio-diversity have received international attention with exhibitions in both commercial and public galleries. In 2026, selections from “Days of Plenty: An Archive of Abundance” are travelling to shows in Finland, France and the United States. His technical process involves high-resolution scanners and digital programs that allow multiple layering of images and careful control of opacity. In some photos, facial recognition has been obscured to ensure privacy.

Wild Men Who Catch and Sing, digital collage, 10x20 in, 2024

Ellingsen’s connection with Cortes Island is long and deep. He has many relatives still living on the island. His great-great- grandfather was Michael Manson. In 1887, Manson, followed by his brother, were the first European settlers on Cortes Island. Manson’s career was varied: he was a sheep farmer, steamship owner, justice of the peace and businessman. As an MLA for the provincial government he travelled around British Columbia. “I wonder at the sights my great-great-grandfather must have seen,” the artist says. His ancestor was fortunate to experience a life-sustaining intact environment maintained for thousands of years by local Indigenous populations - now sadly depleted.

​Ellingsen, born in 1969, has noticed many environmental losses in his own lifetime. While growing up at Reef Point Farm, looking out over the Strait of Georgia, he often saw large schools of Pacific Herring. Now those times are less frequent. The depletion of herring stocks is of great concern because of their vital place in the ecosystem. 
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Gathering, digital collage, 24x30 in, 2023

Mountain Sacrament, digital collage, 6.5 x 7.5 in, 2023

Ellingsen’s photos show how “days of plenty” allowed for hunters, fishers and loggers to remove vast quantities of biomass from environments. The photos of mass multiples of trophy animals stretched out on display can be shocking. “These images may stir up emotions in viewers,” he says. In response, he points out the environmental teachings of Joanna Macy (1929-2025). Macy’s ideas on ecology resonate with Ellingsen. She developed the Work That Reconnects Network. Her workshops guide participants through feelings of anxiety and despair into more constructive mindsets that foster creative solutions for social change.

Restraint of Spirit, digital collage, 11x20 in, 2025

The Last Buffalo, digital collage, 16x39 in, 2023

The artist’s grandmother, May Ellingsen (nee Freeman) began collecting photos and stories of early settlers in the 1920s. These formed the basis of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives - still in operation. “Granny carried around a suitcase filled with photos and clippings that she was eager to share with anyone,” recalls her grandson. If alive today, Ellingsen’s granny would be proud of her grandson, and his important collection of historical images - although his suitcase is on-line and his audience international.

More information about David Ellingsen can be found on his website HERE

Founded in 2017, the Cowichan Public Art Gallery Society is a volunteer-run organization that seeks to build a world-class art gallery in Duncan. Their vision includes making the Duncan area a cultural destination through hosting local, national and international artists of distinction. Community support is crucial to the success of CPAG. Please visit their website to find out how to donate, become a member, and support the gallery through volunteer opportunities.    CPAG website.

​​Web Design and Content by Kate Cino.  
​Arts writer published in Focus, Yam, Boulevard and Monday Magazine.
History in Art degree and Public Relations certificate from the University of Victoria. 
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