I didn’t really know Chili Thom, aside from catching a glimpse of him DJing occasionally. The most contact I had with him was through his artworks, which are scattered indoors and out around Whistler. A talented artist and larger than life personality, Chili’s influence on the communities in the Sea to Sky Corridor was unquestionable, as was the deep sadness that arose when he passed away from cancer in November 2016.
I have to confess I didn’t have a huge ‘wow’ response to his paintings when I first came across them. They were colorful, lively mountain landscapes sure, but I distinctly remember looking at a painting of his signature snow laden trees (I think it was in Creekbread, in Whistler Creekside) and wondering why they left me out in the cold?
It was only after I’d spent a couple of years in the Coast Mountains (where Chili lived most of his life) that I started to understand his work. It took me biking through the rainforest, hiking through basalt formations and jumping into alpine lakes to be able to relate to the patterns, movement and monumental mountains depicted in his landscapes.
The big moment came one winter, carving the last late turns of the day on Whistler Mountain mid-winter. The sun was setting, shadows growing deep and blue while the peach/pink clouds threw purple highlights across the sparkling snow. I rounded a corner and bam! There before me was not one, but an entire forest of Chili’s pillowy, snow laden trees, each one haloed in gold by the last rays of the sun.
It was a humbling moment. No fancy education or hours spent wandering famous art museums could help me connect to Chili’s work. Only time in nature, in the snow and forests and wilderness of BC—these magical places that Chili himself loved to explore are what eventually gave me what I needed to understand his paintings and the depth of his talent.
I didn’t know Chili. But I do know his trees.
For me, that experience illuminated the true power of art. Artists like Chili can reach out and touch our hearts by translating moments into paint-and-canvas messages which leap the barriers of language, time and space. It’s a form of human-to-human communication beyond the world of words, connecting us with each other in a way that no conversation or social media algorithm will ever be able to do. Understanding another person through art is, perhaps, one of the most fulfilling, mysterious and deeply human things we can ever hope to do.
The Chili Thom Experience
In 2017, Arts Whistler, Chili’s friends and family invited everyone to The Chili Thom Experience to celebrate his life’s work as an artist, performer, activist and champion of arts and culture. It was a deep dive that spanned from a free exhibition of his greatest works at the Audain Art Museum to exhibitions, movie nights, workshops, student exhibitions and more across all the cultural venues in Whistler.
Make time to step outside into the mountains and forests that inspired all those works in the gallery. Sit at a lake and watch the patterns of light on water as the sun sets. Stop on a trail and look up at the trees, run your fingers over their bark. Stay still long enough to watch the clouds race through the valley and write their own stories in the air. Chili is speaking across space and time, if we care to listen.
You’ll also find his work on the Cultural Connector, where his mural brightens the underpass near the PassivHaus with colour and wonder.
Find Chili’s Art Online
You can view and purchase Chili’s works online at chilithom.com.
Come to Whistler for the art, the people or the nature – but it’s the combination of all three where the magic really happens. For more information on visiting our mountain town, visit Whistler.com.
