Contemporary Yup'ik Masks & Sculpture

Amikuk

6' x 5' x 18"

This mask sculpture, a depiction of an “Amikuk,” is in the permanent collection of the Portland Art Museum and is on permanent display in the Arctic Collection.

Amikuk is a creature of Yup’ik legend, and is described as a spirit that lives in the ground. He comes out at times but leaves no hole in the ground, and sometimes dislikes men and will jump through them, but leaves no mark. Still, as a result of the jump, the man will eventually die.

The mask teaches us to be aware of our surroundings and to tread lightly when we are in unfamiliar territory. This mask is particularly good for anyone who does a lot of travel in unfamiliar or dangerous territory.

The main body, ears, hands, and labrets are hand sculpted & carved then Raku Fired with custom glazes made by artist. Handmade Dichroic glass beads located on the forehead represent spirits that influence this being. The frame is bent hardwood using a traditional bending method and is made of red oak.

The teeth, outer feathers, and labret bones are hand sculpted porcelain. The outer feathers are horse-hair fired porcelain representing chaos in our traditional spiritual beliefs. The dark turkey feathers and spirit goggles are hand painted and represent spirits in the universe that this being can see. Wild turkey feathers are used to represent the traditional owl feathers that would have been used, but which are no longer available.

Yup'ik Antigone (Real Person Brown Bear)

5'w x 5'h x 8"d

This mask was inspired by the tragic story of a young hunter who fell in love with a woman who lived in a distant village.

As the story goes, the man, seeing how easy it was for Bear to travel great distances, befriends Bear, tells him of the beautiful woman, and asks Bear to help him make the difficult journey to see her. Because the man had previously spared Bear’s life when hunting, Bear allows the man to borrow his skin so he can do so, but makes the man promise to tell him about the woman each time he visited her.

So it began, the hunter changed out of his human skin and into Bear’s skin, and went to be with the woman he loved. Whenever he would arrive, he would change from the bearskin to his human skin so his lover would recognize him.

Bear could not believe the stories of how beautiful the woman was. Finally, he follows the man so he can see for himself, and immediately falls in love when he sees the woman. Now desperate to win this woman, Bear eventually tricks the man, taking the human’s skin and the woman for himself.

Bear (wearing the man’s skin) uses the man’s kayak to escape leaving with the woman far into the ocean. Bear (in his new human skin) eventually settled far away living happily with his love far from the human in Bear’s old skin. Since the man in Bear’s skin was unable to swim as far and as fast as the kayak, the man became trapped in the Bear’s skin. To this day, when you see a bear pacing back and forth on a beach, it is said to be the man looking for his skin.

LEARN MORE. Click to learn more about Yup'ik Antigone and the meaning of the elements used to create it.

Protector of the Fish

62"w x 59"h x 28"d

Available for $7,500.

MATERIALS: Cedar driftwood fencepost, low fire clay, high fire porcelain, fused glass, raku clay and custom made glazes, mahogany, ebony, fly fishing flies, rawhide, recycled fly rods, copper wire, glass beads, buffalo horn, bone, wild turkey feathers, acrylic paint, and down feathers

MEANING: This is a challenge piece, meaning that I was given an object and asked to make something with it. Ed, a good friend, gave me the Cedar driftwood fence post that he collected during one of his fly fishing float trips having it under his feet for the two week float trip. Since we’d done some fly-fishing together, I thought I should make something connected to our experience.

Ed lost a number of flies on one of our trips so I decided to make a fisherman-teasing mask, which I like to call “Protector of the Fish”. When I thought about it, I noted that Ed spent some time untangling rescuing flies from logs and trees on the river. In looking at the piece of wood, I imagined a spirit that was protecting the fish from fisherman.

Note all the fly fishing flies caught on the driftwood. The salmon swim over salmon eggs being protected by this protector. Whoever gets this piece will have to remove all the flies and use their own flies on the log. They will also need to attach 3 retired fly reels on the rods standing upright.

This may be considered a memorial piece for someone who enjoyed fly-fishing but is no longer with us.

Poisioned

This piece represents Amikuk, and is a mask used to warn people about a dangerous spirit that lived under ground and could possess people.

"Poisoned" was inspired by pre-contact Yup'ik masks I handled at the Smithsonian which were seriously damaged and defaced when collected. Early curators and collectors soaked a number of masks in arsenic to kill off and prevent infestation by parasites. When this was done, the word poisoned was stamped on the mask to warn and protect the handlers.

Early collectors also did poor repair work, which is expressed by a dark epoxy scar running down the face of this mask. Blood smears running across the poor repairs represent stitches of blood. I painted these stitches with white dots to represent our ancestors, and then painted them over again to make the spirits appear as ghosts within the stitches.

Early curators of these masks also marked them (in graffiti fashion) with a serial number, with the location where the piece was collected at, and with the name of who collected the piece. I followed suit in this piece and wrote my own information with a large permanent marker to emphasize the defacing of our artifacts.

Poisoned is now in the permanent collection of the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

LEARN MORE. Click to learn more about Poisioned and the meaning of the elements used to create it.

Hawk Tuunraq

43"h x 54"w x 23"d

MATERIALS: Mixed media oak root, raku clay, high fired porcelain, and horse hair fired porcelain.

MEANING: This mask represents a hawk with its Yua (spirit of a thing). The large face and Yua is a Tuunraq (Shaman's helping spirit).

When I first saw this piece of wood, I saw the Tuunraq face with the roots of the oak forming the hair. As I carved the face out, another image came out of the wood. At the base, I saw the hawk begin to form letting it evolve the way it wanted to.

The hawk and Tuunraq in this piece represent a strong combined healing power. Because Tuunraq's reside in the spirit form, they appear as deformed or formless. The teeth from this tuunraq's mouth wrap up the face and around the eye.

• The teeth remind us that we need to nurture our gifts and not use them to harm others. If we do this, then we risk being consumed later in life by the bad things done to others.
• The raku spirits in the hair represent the power of the ancestors working through this Hawk Tuunraq.
• The fish represent what the hawk feed on and what gives it some of its power.
• The thumb-less hands indicate that this is a Shaman's helping spirit mask.
• The claws, wings, and tail are attached in a traditional manner. They are horse hair fired to represent the chaos that the modern world brought into the hawk's life and what it must move through to survive. This mask is in a private collection in Santa Fe and rests on top of a large meditation alter.

This Hawk Tuunraq is now part of a private collectin in New Mexico

He Is Babbling

32"x x 52" h x 12" d

MATERIALS: Mixed media: Driftwood, Fused Glass, wild turkey feathers, high fired porcelain, and wood stain.

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MEANING: This piece was inspired by a college friend whose big mouth always got him into trouble. As soon as he opened his mouth and spoke, it was a guarantee that he would offend someone; especially women.

There were times in college when we would invite him out just to watch him talk his way out of an insane comment he made. We have no idea how, but he was always able to charm his way out of any bad situation; even with hard core motorcycle riders. To us, it seemed as if his tongue was possessed.

As I thought about it, I imagined his tongue as a Tuunraq (Shaman's Helping Spirit) and that he had little experience dealing with such a powerful spirit. So, when you look at this mask, you see the Tuunraq as a deviant tongue spirit within the big mouth.

LEARN MORE. Click to learn more about He Is Babbling and the meaning of the elements used to create it.

Northwind

43"h x 31"w x 19"d

Pair available for $27,000.

This mask depicts Negaqvaq, the North Wind spirit. It is one of two masks that are to be sold together, according to Yup'ik tradition.

North Wind masks were traditionally used to welcome and celebrate the onset of the winter winds and winter activities.

This was one of a pair of masks included in a traveling museum exhibition that took place from September 2005 to January of 2008 to museums including: The Museum of Art and Design; the Institute of American Indian Arts; the Eiteljorg Museum; the Naples Museum of Art; the Philbrook Museum of Art; the Anchorage Museum of History and Art; the Weisman Art Museum.

Being a winter wind mask, it is designed to float and have custom hangars.

The appendage coming out of the head leads to three rings that represent the wind spirit’s breath. The light colored top represents winter, and the black-colored bottom represents summer. The hands without thumbs are a warning against greed. They tell the viewer to hold back from overharvesting natural resources and to be a good steward of the earth. The holes cut into the hands are points of entry for spirits. The inner ring represents the here and now of our existence in the physical world. The outer ring represents the unseen part of our existence where spirits move freely. Both rings are connected to each other, symbolizing the traditional Yup’ik belief in the constant connection between the physical and the spiritual worlds.”

Other Ways of Seeing

5'5"h x 40"w x 10"d.

Available for $17,000

A functional dance mask

MATERIALS: Carved redwood driftwood with various media including: copper wire , bronze, porcelain raku, wild turkey feathers tipped with down feathers, dentalium shells, pearls, corral, buffalo horn beads, glass beads, oak, walrus ivory, brass rod & wire, deer horn, caribou antler bite plate, rawhide, and acrylic paints.

MEANING: “Mecigiuq” means, "It became more visible; he became more able to see” and is the Yup’ik name of this piece. In English, I simply call this piece, “Other Ways of Seeing”.

This is a challenge piece with the wood being gifted by fellow artist & friend Rick Bartow. I did the rough carving in Rick’s studio and did all the finish work in my own studio.

The mask is functional, with many deep meanings and represents a person living with the veil of blindness (dentalium shells); having the gift and openness to see in many other ways. By making a deeper connection to the other senses, a blind person can see better - in more ways - then the average person. There are 7 pairs of spirit eyes and hands moving upward on this piece representing “Mecigiuq” the ability so see better or other ways of seeing.

LEARN MORE. Click to learn more about Other Ways of Seeing and the meaning of the elements used to create it.

Seabird Yua

36”w x 45”h x 14”d

This Sea Bird Yua mask is part of the permanent collection at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon. Slight changes were made to what you see in this image before it was acqiured by the Hallie Ford Museum.

It was was made with low fire clay (textured and finished to look like wood), porcelain, fused glass, walnut, wild turkey feathers, stain, acrylic paints, rawhide, & synthetic sinew.

YUP'IK MEANING: This mask was inspired by a story my grandfather told us about being rescued by a sea bird. He was traveling by qayaq far out in the ocean and became disoriented and lost in a thick fog. He knew he was far from land. A bird flew over so he called it and it landed. He paddled towards it and it flew again but landed after he called it. This was repeated several times until he found land.

• The face "Yua" in the body represents an old spirit that was familiar with my grandfather that guided him to land.
• The hands and teeth indicate that this is a shaman's helping spirit mask.
• The wooden spirit hoops also represent the bird landing in the water.
• The small spirit faces represent the ancestors that were helping the Yua and my grandfather.
• I made the mask look like old wood to connect with our tradition of making masks out of wood.

Someone You Know

Gabriel

5'w x 5'h x 15"d

Gabriel is similar to the Amikuk mask at the Portland Art Museum.

Gabriel was inspired by discussion I had about how Tuunraq's (guardian spirits) are equivalent to angels in Christian religions, which led to the discussion of the Messianic musical group Lamb and their song "Angel Gabriel"

Media and techniques used in the creation of this piece are as follows:

Mixed media sculpture; Face hand sculpted raku clay; porcelain teeth, faces, & hanging bones hand sculpted and high fired; large glass beads on forehead hand fused by artist; oak frame hand bent using traditional bending methods; feathers painted; mask attached to spirit rings with rawhide; and, mounting bracket set up so piece extends 8-12” from wall (shadow represents spirit of the mask).

The Gathering Mask

Hawkbirth

Hunting Partners

Owl Shaman

Painted

Wolf

This mask of a wolf, made from driftwood, is one of my few wooden pieces, and it has a very modern twist on a traditional Yup’ik form.

I carved the mask from a piece of wood given to him by an artist friend as a “challenge.” My inspiration came from a personal encounter that I had with a powerful animal while hunting with relatives in Alaska.

I remember looking down to see a footprint of a wolf on the ground the size of my hand, that had water seeping into it, indicating it was a fresh footprint. I never did see the wolf, but I heard it walking close by. It seemed that we were listening to each other for about a half hour before the wolf moved on to something else. In that time, I did not sense danger. I only felt a deep sense of curiosity on part of the wolf, and a very strong presence.