carvings - 2019-2021
Availability is listed in each description.
Inigun- Rock Formation Patterned by Action of Water on the Shore
There are a few layers of meaning for this one:
1) This mask is inspired by the intertidal zone and the many resources that it provides to coastal peoples. It can be easy to overlook this region of the shoreline, but people the world over harvest seaweed, clams and oysters, and other foods, which are only available at low tide. I recently learned more about how Tlingit people harvest herring eggs, by putting hemlock branches along the shore and collecting them once the herring spawn. I even got to taste the eggs for the first time, and I was surprised to find they taste JUST like herring! Who would’ve thought! 😄
2) I love that Yup’ik people have a word for something so specific. It speaks to the powers of observation and the intimacy with the earth that you find across Indigenous cultures.
3) While I worked on this piece, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that Washington State is one of the few states that sold tidal zones as private property. SEVENTY PERCENT of WA waterfront lands are privately owned. This brings up all sorts of issues about access, and I think the most important one is tribal access to traditional food sources. This access is a treaty right, but many private tidal land “owners” refuse to recognize this right and harass tribal members harvesting foods on their “private property.” Spend some time thinking about that one.
SOLD
Yellow cedar, pigments, wire, stone beads, shell beads, Delica beads, home tanned/dyed salmon skin, thread
18”h x 18”w x 2”d
Water Relatives
This mask relates to the relationship between humans and the water creatures we rely on for survival. Although their lives under water seem removed from ours on land, their existence is intertwined with ours, both for our survival and theirs.
The forehead design is layers of whale tails, painted on the face are a walrus, bowhead whale, seal and beluga whale under a layer of gel medium to look like they’re under water. The circle and dot motif (which represents our place in the universe) in the forehead is filled with a mica disk held in place with a copper nail, and the universe rings are also copper, which is an offering to our ancestors. The hoop has hand-tanned and -dyed fish skin, which is sewed in place with metallic thread. I dyed the fish skins to have a lighter-to-darker gradient, like when you go deeper in the water, and for an extra-nerdy detail, the silverish beads around the hoop get larger from the bottom to the top, since air bubbles grow as they rise in the water due to the lessening of water pressure. 😁
SOLD
Alder, pigments, charring, mica, copper, dowel, hand-tanned and -dyed salmon skin, thread, glass beads.
19” diameter x 4” deep
Everyday Courage
This piece is an LGBTQIA2S+ honoring mask, to acknowledge the courage needed by many to simply live in their identities. The painted colors on the forehead are the Pride flag with the POC brown and black stripes, and I decided to include white to represent the sunlight after a storm going through a prism to create the rainbow. The beads on the top are patterned after several of the many flags that represent groups within this community: bisexual, pansexual, asexual, transgender, genderqueer/nonbinary, genderfluid, and nonbinary. Although I could not find any one symbol to represent Two Spirit people, I decided to peyote stitch two feathers together as if they were one.
SOLD- Sale price ($1200) has been donated to Q Youth Resources.
Basswood, wire, acrylic paint, glass beads, feathers, moose hide, seed beads.
9”h x 6”w x 2”d
Tides of Time
This piece is inspired by a photo my friend Sara Siestreem shared online. People usually refer to “the sands of time,” but really sand is created by the movements of tides and waves. Indigenous people the world over have long suffered from colonial pressures, forcing them away from their cultures. Many of us mourn the loss of those behaviors and beliefs, but recently I began wondering if rather than being gone they’ve just been buried. Such powerful traditions, after all, are not so easily destroyed, and I am beginning to believe they are still there, inside of us, waiting to reemerge.
SOLD
Alder, head pins, tiger’s eye beads, acrylic
15.5”h x 11.5”w x 5”d
Qakiiyaq-Silver Salmon
This piece is based on one of my favorite masks, which is a seal with its mouth open and its yua (inner person) peeking out. My favorite salmon to catch and eat is silver (coho) salmon, so this is sort of a self portrait, as well.
SOLD
Alder, pigments, wire, dyed shell beads.
11"h x 9"w x 4"d
Holding It In
This mask captures the feeling when you really want to laugh at something but you can’t. The left side shows the outside view while the right side shows what’s happening inside the person.
SOLD
Basswood, wire, feathers, pigments
10.5”h x 9”w x 2”d
Through the Storm
This mask is based on a print I did of the same name. It represents the struggles we all go through, and the challenge of continuing on even when we want to give up. While I carved this I especially thought of several of my aunties, one who lost a son, one who lost a husband, and one who fought cancer.
SOLD
Alder, pigments.
7”h x 5”w x 3”d
Song for the Moon
This mask is based on a historic mask that is said to be a half moon. I have always loved the moon and the light it gives at night, so this is a tribute to her.
SOLD
Alder, pigment, wire, stone beads, seed beads, enameled copper
16"h x 16.25"w x 4.25"d
Subsistence Woman
This mask was created in honor of my aunt Mary Pete, who passed away from cancer in November, 2018. This mask was raffled to raise money for the Mary Ciuniq Pete Legacy Scholarship, which benefits students at the UAF Kuskokwim Campus.
Bass wood, red cedar branches, wire, glass beads, pigments, imitation sinew.
14”w x 13”h x 2.5”d
Spiritual Renewal
During ceremonies, Yup’ik shaman would rub ash on their bodies to protect them from the spirit world. I used that idea by burning one side of the mask to show the ways that we try and protect ourselves from past hurts. The other side has crackle paint to represent the healing process – although we don’t heal perfectly, we are still whole and can use what we’ve learned to create positive change. The feathers represent birds as a connection to the Creator to help us heal.
SOLD
Basswood, feather biots, charring pigments, seed beads
24”h x 22”w x 2”d
To Be Who You Are
My dad told me a story that when he was a boy in Tununak there was a man who chose to dress as a woman. He asked his dad why he dressed that way, and his dad said “That’s how he is.” There was no judgment, just acceptance. This mask is based on that story, and shows the ways in which being able to accept one’s inner spirit can bring calm and beauty.
SOLD
Seal Spirit
This mask is more traditional than I normally carve, but I think it’s important to reconnect with historic artwork to remind myself of my cultural history. This is based on a historic seal spirit mask, and would have been used during a dance to please the spirits of seals so they will offer themselves to hunters throughout the year.
SOLD
Basswood, beach-collected feathers, bone beads, pigments
15”h x 16”w x 6”d
Taperrnaq Yua – Beach Grass Spirit
I’m not sure how to describe this mask other than to say it came to me in a vision, at least the forehead design did, and the rest came later. Most people familiar with Yup’ik art know the driftwood spirit masks, which were made because driftwood was necessary for survival without trees in the region. Grass was just as important, and families had to gather huge amounts each year to use for everything from bedding to weaving storage containers, floor and kayak mats, and socks. The line across the eyes represents the spirit world, the partial hoop is covered in beach grass, and the stone discs represent water since that’s where the grass is collected.
SOLD
Basswood, beach grass, wire, stone beads, imitation sinew, pigment.
18”h x 14”w x 2”d
Growth
This piece represents the growth process. It can be painful, sometimes messy, but is always worth working toward. It’s a continuous cycle, and even when we’re working at it we still make mistakes, but it’s all part of being human.
$2800 - Available at Sacred Circle Gallery, Ballard
Alder, Willow, Ivy Root, Feathers, Stone Beads, Glass Beads, Pigments, Imitation Sinew
25"h x 18.5"w x 3"d
Yup’ik Queen
I’ve wondered whether Indigenous people would have been treated differently by Europeans if they had looked and acted more like them. Although the answer is probably no, once I started thinking about what a Yup’ik Queen would look like I couldn’t get her out of my head. Here, I have used traditional elements of Yup’ik womanhood - dance headdress, earrings, a nose ring, chin tattoos to show her experience, and labrets - but made them more flashy than you would historically find. The headdress is made of wolf and wolverine fur, and I chose to leave the wolverine paws to reflect her determination and strength. Overall. This mask represents indigenous resilience and strength to continue living and rebuilding our cultures.
$2800 - Available at Sacred Circle Gallery, Ballard
Alder, wolf fur, wolverine fur, seed beads, glass beads, ivory, moose hide
24”h x 14”w x 5”d
Qaaq-Wave
My family spent a lot of time along the beach during our summer visits to Tununak, AK. One of my favorite parts was listening to the waves coming in, and noticing the differences between gentle waves and powerful ones. I’ve always been amazed by the power and immensity of the ocean, and the mysteries that it contains. The ocean and its waves still feels like magic to me, but they also feels like family and comfort.
SOLD
Yellow cedar, pigments, brass nails, dried and painted seal intestine, thread
17” diameter x 2.5” deep
Anuqsuar (Breeze)
This is one of the more history-based masks I’ve done. The inspiration is the series of Yup’ik wind masks that are making the rounds to various museums over the last year or so, some of which are in the last two photos. I decided to make a mask for the smaller, gentler breezes of the world, so instead of wood hoops on the forehead I used beach grass from Tununak, and instead of wooden feathers I used downy feathers.
SOLD
Alder, red cedar, willow, pigments, beach grass, thread, feathers, imitation sinew.
8”h x 6”w x 4”d
Spiritual Cycles
Native people along the coastal regions of Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest have long relied on salmon for survival, but the relationship isn’t just one of physical nourishment. Our relationship to salmon is spiritual, and we have always known that our destiny it tied to theirs. As salmon populations decline, their importance to humans and many other species and ecosystems is becoming clear, and the need to protect their waters is undeniable. It is our responsibility to do the necessary work to ensure their survival.
SOLD
Yellow cedar, acrylic, wire, wire mesh, gel medium, glass beads
19.5”h x 9”w x 2”d
Fuel To The Flames
When I was in middle school, a friend told me that after her mom met me she said “That Jennifer. She has a glimmer in her eye, like she’s up to something.” Truth be told, I usually was up to something, but my intentions were always good even when I didn’t get it right. Even though the phrase “add fuel to the fire” is usually used in a negative way, I try to remind myself that we get to choose which fires we encourage, which to let smolder, and which to snuff out. I continue to learn and work at it, and I find great joy in that process.
SOLD
Red Cedar, Pigments, Charring
14.75"h x 8.25"w x 5"d
The Space Between
In late 2018 I kept seeing and hearing the phrase ‘the space between’, and I wrote it down to remind myself to think about it. This mask is the result, and is a reminder to appreciate even the smallest moments in life. We get caught up in waiting for the next “big thing,” like a vacation or a new job, and we completely miss the everyday moments that make up our lives. The beads on top are the sunrise, and beads on the bottom are the sunset, and we live in…wait for it…the space between.
SOLD
Yellow Cedar, Iridescent Acrylic, Delica Seed Beads, Head Pins
16"h x 14"w x 2"d
Time to Feast
This mask is inspired by an early-20th century Yup’ik mask of an owl with a fish emerging from its mouth. This bird is imaginary, but speaks to the connection between healthy waters (for fish) and healthy air (for everyone).
SOLD
Red cedar, yellow cedar, willow, feathers, pigments, artificial sinew.
19"h x 16"w x 4.25"d
Checking In
Yup’ik people had specific behaviors that helped them preserve the relationship between the human, animal and plant worlds, and the members of those other worlds could check in on us to make sure we were doing our jobs. This seal is peeking out of the water to see what you’re up to.
SOLD
Alder, wire, stained glass, glass beads.
11”w x 11”w x 2.5”d
Short-Tailed Shearwater Yua (Spirit)
In the summer of 2018 I went out to Tununak, my family’s home village, for the first time in 17 years. One day I was walking on the beach and saw many dead birds washed up on shore, which I had never seen before in the many summers I had spent there as a kid. I asked my auntie about them, and she said that normally those birds are farther north, but they can’t find enough food and come south looking for some and end up dying of starvation. I looked it up, and the short-tailed shearwater migrates all the way to the Bering Strait from Australia, but they have been dying in large numbers, as have puffins, common murres and other sea birds, all because the water is warming and they can’t find food. This mask is a prayer for them.
SOLD - This piece is part of the City of Seattle Portable Artwork Collection.
Red cedar, pigments, feathers, seed beads.
15”h x 5”w x 3”d
Raven’s Nature
A few years ago I read a story about how Raven used to be white and had a beautiful singing voice. One day he challenged Owl to a food-collecting competition to prepare for winter. Owl was diligent in collecting food, but Raven decided to be lazy and steal Owl’s stored food in the dark of night. He rolled in the ashes of a fire to cover his white feathers, and the ashes made him cough. However, he didn’t know that Owl is a night creature and witnessed the trick. Owl told Creator what he saw, and as punishment Creator made it so that Raven’s feather stayed black and he lost his beautiful singing voice. There are obvious lessons about the importance of preparation and honesty, but the story also speaks to Raven’s nature – he can’t help himself, he is a trickster at heart. This mask captures him in the middle of his transformation.
SOLD
Basswood, oil pigment, homemade charcoal oil pigment, feathers
9”h x 9”w x 2”d
Bringing Back Spring
This mask was inspired by the excitement each spring of that first time hearing the geese heading north. The sound of honking would start at a distance, then my brain would register what I was hearing, and I’d look up to watch the flock overhead. This was the sign the sun was coming back and soon the hills would turn green.
SOLD
Alder, pigment, wire, glass beads, seed beads, altered metal beads, Swarovski crystal beads.
8"h x 5"w x 1.5"d
Finding the Way Home
The idea for this piece began when I learned about the Math in a Cultural Context curriculum developed at UAF using traditional Yup’ik knowledge. The section on measurement demonstrates how Yup’ik people used their bodies as measuring units, so this qayaq outline is close to the dimensions I would use were I to build an actual qayaq.
This piece is a smidge over 14 feet wide, a touch over 2 feet high, and about 2 inches deep. The qayaq has a seal outline and traditional Yup’ik line design, and the mask is based on a historic mask and uses traditional Yup’ik colors. The material surrounding the mask is painted dried seal intestine, which would historically be used for rain gear and embellishing clothing and tools (unpainted, of course).
I almost named the piece “Finding the Way Back Home,” but in thinking about it I dropped the “back” since some people don’t necessarily have a home, literal or figurative, to go back to, so I wanted to capture the experiences of everyone, whether they are returning home or finding their first one.
$14,000
Old growth red cedar, yellow cedar, pigments, dried seal intestine.
14’1.5”w x 2’1.5”h x 2.5”d
This piece represents the yua, or inner human spirit, of salmon. These types of carvings relate to our respect for and responsibility toward the animals that have always sustained us. Climate change threatens the survival of salmon and many other species, which in turns threatens traditional ways of life and our cultural ties to the land. It is our obligation to find solutions to the climate crisis that we have created.
In historic Yup’ik masks the face was typically carved on the back of the salmon, but the round of red cedar I used suggested this form. I had planned on putting attachments in that gap between the salmon’s head and tail, but ended up experimenting and simply inlaid glass beads in a water-like pattern. The inlaid bead technique is something I observed while studying the Yup’ik holdings of the Anchorage Museum.
SOLD
Red cedar, pigments, glass seed beads
14”h x 8”w x 5”d
Ancient Journey
This piece was created for the group show Fast Forward: Skateboards and Paddles held at Stonington Gallery in Seattle, WA. “Ancient Journey” honors spawning salmon and the importance of salmon to coastal Native peoples. The central mask represents the salmon yua (spirit), the paint colors represent how salmon change color when they spawn, and the enameled discs represent the salmon eggs. The willow branches on either side call the salmon back to their spawning streams to renew their population.
$3200. Available for purchase through Stonington Gallery.
Longboard, enameled copper, yellow cedar, willow, Imitation sinew, pigments, wire
46"h x 24"w x 6"d
Perseus Sings
In 2002, astronomers discovered that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, which is 250 million light years from earth, sings a single note, detectable only through X-ray observation. The note is a B-flat 57 octaves below middle C, and is estimated to have been constant for approximately 2.5 billion years. The sound may explain a celestial mystery – how galaxy clusters form. Astronomers have long wondered why the gas around galaxy clusters remains so hot instead of cooling and condensing to form trillions of stars. The sound from the black hole may be the answer, providing enough energy for the gas to remain hot and therefore supporting the growth of galaxy clusters, the largest structures in the universe. Black holes don’t just destroy, then; they also help create.
SOLD
Red Cedar, Plate Glass, Stained Glass, Grout, Metal Ring
20"h20"w
5"d
Grandmother Walrus
This piece was started in 2017, but the original yua (inner human spirit) began cracking around the edge during the drying process, so I removed it and waited for inspiration to strike so I could finish the piece. I finally saw a photo of a mask recovered from the Nunalleq archaeological dig site in southwestern Alaska, which is focused on recovering artifacts that are being revealed through erosion driven by climate change, and I carved my own version. The sticks on the side are inspired by similar features on old masks, said to represent labrets, which were commonly worn by both women and men. I chose to use driftwood instead of straight sticks hanging down, because there are no trees along the coast of southeast Alaska and driftwood was necessary for survival, just as our elders’ teachings are necessary for our cultural survival.
SOLD
Alder, Ebonized Alder, Willow, Driftwood, Caribou Antler, Pigments, Imitation Sinew
14"h x 24"w x 5"d
Igigkaraat – Constellation
As with many cultures, Yup’ik people used the stars to navigate and had their own constellations. This mask represents a galaxy and the crystals are in the shapes of several Yup’ikconstellations. Clockwise from the top are Qimugta (The Dog), the arrow part of Pitegcaun (Arrowhead), Taluyat (The Blackfish Trap), Tunturyuk (The Caribou) and Agyarrluk (the North Star). I learned about these constellations from the Math in a Cultural Context curriculum from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
SOLD
Alder, pigments, diamond dust, Swarovski crystals, headpins, glass beads, shell beads.
10”h x 9”w x 4”d
Qilangaq Yua -Horned Puffin Spirit
Sometimes I stare at a piece of wood until I can see a form in it, and that is what happened here. This piece became a puffin spirit mask, with the puffin’s yua (human spirit) peering out.
SOLD
Alder, pigments, feathers.
15"h x 14"w x 4"d
Journey to the Beyond
This mask is based on a story Ron Manook (my first carving teacher) told me- he said that Athabascans believe that when someone passes away a white raven takes them to the afterlife. This story took on deeper meaning when he passed away suddenly in 1999, and I’m pretty sure he had something to do with this mask since it’s been 20 years since his death. The black represents the spirit world the soul is entering into, and the red on the chin is the living world they are leaving. The beads represent the people who knew them in life and become the holders of their memory.
SOLD
Alder, pigments, copper netting, stone beads, nylon cord
13”h x 7”w x 4”d
The Elements Help Lift the Sky
This piece is based on the story that was the basis for the yəhaw̓ indigenous art show in Seattle, WA (https://yehawshow.com/). i initially planned to have tribal peoples represented in the surrounding masks, but as I worked on the piece I started thinking about how humans rely on the land to survive, so we need healthy land, air and water to be healthy ourselves.
SOLD
Yellow Cedar, basswood, copper, acrylic
22"h x 22"w x 5.25"d
Rising Waters
The title for this piece can be taken literally as the dangers posed by rising waters, such as floods, erosion and disappearing coastlines. The title can also be figurative, reflecting the way that someone starts to experience their own strength and voice. Many issues affecting Native communities revolve around water, and I’m inspired by the ways more and more communities are finding themselves and taking stands for the health of their people and waterways.
SOLD
Basswood, pigments, gel medium, bone beads, seed beads, volcanic rock beads
16.5”h x 9”w x 2”d
Travelers
This piece was created for the group show Fast Forward: Skateboards and Paddles held at Stonington Gallery in Seattle, WA. This paddle is designed to complement Ancient Journey, and acknowledges the portion of the salmon life cycle spent at sea. Salmon spend up to seven years in the open ocean, between leaving and returning to their spawning streams. The handle grip is beaded and has a salmon image.
SOLD
Yellow cedar, acrylic, glass seed beads
75”h x 7”w x 2”d
Checking Nets With My Ap’a
When I was a kid my family spent summers in Tununak, my dad’s home village on the shores of the Bering Sea. One of my favorite things to do was to go upriver with my Ap’a (grandpa) to check his nets for whitefish and trout. This mask represents those times, and I wanted the fish to have a dreamy feel to capture the ways our childhood memories continue to impact our lives.
SOLD
Alder, glass seed beads, quartz beads, pigments.
14.5”h x 8.5”w x 4”d
Becoming Aware
This mask is based on the phrase “when I became aware,” which is found in elders’ narratives and references moments in their lives when they understood something important about themselves or about life, usually in their youth. I’ve only recently come to understand that we have these moments throughout our lives, and that they are signs we are always learning, growing and changing.
I contributed this piece to the Spirit of Alaska Gala in San Francisco in support of the Alaska Conservation Foundation.
Alder, wire, glass beads, metal beads and iridescent paint
11”h x 8.5”w x 2.5”d