Northern fusion: Salmon Aurora blends the best of the Yukon to win!
Sometimes it takes a fresh perspective to see the connections between our most cherished symbols. And having lived around the world before settling in Dawson City, Yukon, Ramon Joseph Santos definitely brings a wealth of perspective to his art.
Salmon Aurora - as above, so below, the winner of Northwestel’s 2025 Directory Art contest for the Yukon & northern B.C., is a striking oil painting. It brings together two powerful northern symbols—the salmon and the northern lights—in a way that feels both new and timeless.
The piece captures a quiet truth that Northerners know instinctively: what happens above us is deeply connected to what flows below. “They both swim in the same ocean,” Santos says. “They both have the same movements. What happens above us is also happening below us. It’s the Yin and the Yang… the seen and the unseen.”
Salmon Aurora - as above, so below. Oil on canvas – 16” x 24”
From Manilla to Dawson and everywhere in between
This poetic outlook is deeply rooted in Santos’ life experience. His journey to Dawson City has spanned continents and cultures. “Well, I grew up in a lot of places. Guam, the Philippines, Southern Ontario, and Louisiana… I’m just an amalgamation of weird accents,” he jokes.
But art has always been the throughline. As a child in Manila, he was exposed to the world of painting through his mother. “She would go to these studios in Manila and take me with her. It was enough to blow me out of the water! As a 7-year-old boy going into these studios covered in stained wood and linen and pigments and the smell of linseed oil. I think that’s really where it started.”
Those early moments sparked a lifelong calling. “When you see people do it all the time, then you get the sense that you can do it too!”
Santos was surrounded by sign painters and muralists and oil paintings hanging around his home. His grandfather and uncle were both artists. Santos was immersed in a world where creativity was part of everyday life. “My upbringing was very immersive in the arts. I’ve just always been doing it, I guess.”
Ramon has now settled in Dawson City in the Yukon, a place he credits for his artistic growth. “I feel like Dawson is the place where you could be whoever you want to be. It showed me I could be an artist and do that for a living. Of course, it's lonely at times, especially during the winter months. But I think that's also part an artist's life: integrating the seclusion. I think it's quite necessary for the artistic practice.”
Ramon playing guitar at home in Dawson City, Yukon
Seeing all the signs
Today, Santos is Dawson City's local sign painter, a role he took on after a neighbour - Halin De Repentigny - passed the brush to him… literally.
“When I first got to town, there were a lot of hand-painted signs. I asked who did them. I knocked on his door and he trained me how to do it. He showed me how to choose and prime the right boards and choose the paints and gave me a few sign painting lessons and I’ve been doing it ever since. He’s my neighbour now. We hang out all the time.”
Ramon Joseph Santos with friend, neighbor and teacher Halin De Repentigny
Ramon’s work now lives on storefronts, murals, and signs throughout the community.
Salmon Aurora - as above so below, represents a creative evolution for Santos. “Those bright colors—the oranges, and the greens, and the purples—that’s not usual in my palette. It was quite a challenge to use them and have them complement each other.” But the result speaks for itself. “It feels electric every time I look at it.”
Supporting Northern Artists
As the winner of the Directory Art contest, Ramon Joseph Santos receives a $5,000 prize from Northwestel. For 46 years, Northwestel has published rich northern art on the covers of its directories. From touching family traditions to realistic recreations of arctic landscapes, the company admires and celebrates the creativity of those who bring the North to life.
Thinking about submitting your artwork for next year's Directory Art Contest? Visit our Directory Art page and keep an eye out for the 2026 contest, opening in September.
Meet our other 2025 Directory Art Winners:
Bringing Nunavut stories to life, in a big way
A painter’s flight: Deanna Ehalt-Zawyrucha’s story
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Photography by Justin Apperley, shot in film with a Rolleiflex Medium Format Camera, developed in a DIY colour darkroom using analogue processes.