John Laford

John Eric Laford was an Ojibwe visual artist born in 1954 on the Cockburn Island Reserve in Algoma District, Ontario. Raised on Manitoulin Island, he began painting at an early age. He pursued formal studies in commercial art at Algonquin College in Ottawa before continuing his artistic training at the Toronto School of Art. During the late 1970s, he lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he studied Southwestern Native art techniques.

Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, paper, and birchbark, as well as serigraphy and stone carving, Laford's artistic practice was rooted in the Woodland School tradition. His compositions featured bold black black-line work, stylized animal forms, and vibrant colour fields. His imagery frequently depicted Anishinaabe oral histories, spiritual iconography, shamans, and northern wildlife.

Throughout his career, Laford lived and worked across Canada, maintaining studios in locations including Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia, before settling in Echo Bay, Ontario. His work was included in institutional exhibitions at public venues, including the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

Laford died in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in November 2021. His artwork is represented in permanent public and museum collections, including the Canadian Museum of History, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Art Gallery of Algoma.