Here it is, the last blog of this class. I have definitely enjoyed all the research and the look into art in general and it opened my eyes to many forms of thinking, art, and even in the realm of art history, which I generally am not interested in.
I will be focusing today on Native Alaskan artwork. I am what you call a "transplant" to Alaska, however I have decided this is my home and will never leave. One of the things I appreciate most about Alaska is the welcoming diversity of the Native Alaskan tribes and its peoples. While I know that they have suffered their own trials and tribulations, Alaska would not be the place it is without the influence of the tribes of the First Peoples.
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| Tlingit Totem Pole, artist and year unknown, USA |
There are many tribes in our great state of Alaska. While a lot of Native Alaskan art will be similar, they cover a large amount of land and if you pay attention, you can start to notice differences and differences in content and influence. The Tlingit is primarily in the southeastern handle of Alaska. Much of their artwork is in the form of woodcarving, such as the totem I posted above. Totems have many different reasons.
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| Untitled Bead Work, Brenda Mahan, 2017, USA |
Here we have bead work from an Athabascan Woman. It is stitched onto hide. Possibly moose or caribou. It is colorful and seems to be more for decoration that to commemorate something. The time it took to make the piece must have been insane. I honestly love this type of work because it is both simple and intense due to amount of beads and color coordination.
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| Unknown Inupiaq Art |
Inupiaq artwork also leans more towards carvings, as they make their work out of available material, which may be walrus tusk, whale bone, or even fossils washed up on the shore. I have noticed a lot of the created figurines are more based around the people which I believe shows a large sense of community and love for their culture and people in their community.
SOURCE:
Waterbury, Barbara. “Tlingit.” Stonington Gallery, 7 Nov. 2016, stoningtongallery.com/tribe/tlingit/#:~:text=On%20Tlingit%20Art%3A,healing%20conducted%20by%20the%20shaman.
It's funny. You talk about totems and in my ANS class we just covered the Tlingit and Haida peoples. Anyways, the totem poles are probably some of the craziest things the Alaska Native people have made. I can't imagine how much patience you'd need to carve and paint it. There's actually someone who makes full totem poles by himself. I can't imagine how much time that must take. Absolutely wonderful topic to post about, man!
ReplyDeleteI love you subject choice of art. I have chosen something similar with the Tlingit being a similar subject. Like Forrests blog comment, I took the ANS class last semester and it really was interesting learning of the totem poles. It is beautiful with the different ranges of art through out Alaska. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the culture you chose to represent, I absolutely love the amount of creativity and patience that natives have to create intricate yet simple art. I admire how much they put into their work and how everything that they create has a meaningful story behind it. Great choices.
ReplyDeleteHey Robert, I liked all of your Alaska Native art choices for the post. The totem pole has a balance, a vertical symmetry right at the center. The bead work is phenomenal, I like the rhythm of the paw prints. The amount of detail put into each face is spectacular. Thank you for your post.
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