Artist Gallery
Welcome to the Alutiiq Museum's on line artist gallery, featuring artists whose work is inspired by Alutiiq heritage and the museum's collections. Artists are listed alphabetically by last name. Please click on an artist's name to visit their individual page and learn more about their work. For information on this gallery, or to create a page for your work, please contact Deputy Director
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Medium: Carving
Born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised in the Bristol Bay village of Pilot Point, Andrew Abyo is an Alutiiq carver who seeks to learn and pass on his cultural traditions. He wants his three children and other people to have a greater understanding of the Alutiiq culture and its rich history. "My goal is to bring out different things that you normally don’t get to see, other than in a museum. |
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Medium: Carving, Painting, & Drawing
A lifelong artist, Lena Amason Berns grew up in the village of Port Lions. Born to a family of artists, her parents Alvin Amason and Kathy Nelson encouraged Lena to create art from an early age. |
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Medium: Skin Sewing, Weaving, & Beading
Born and raised in the Alutiiq community of Old Harbor, Melissa Berns is an Alutiiq artist who specializes in skin sewing, basket weaving and the creation of traditional regalia. Accoding to Melissa, "This is a spiritual journey that will allow me to have a glimpse into the past and history of my Alutiiq ancestors and will provide me with the tools to move forward incorporating modern traditions with the skills of the past." |
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Medium: Ivory Jewlery, Basket Weaving, Carving
For more than 17 years, Coral Chernoff has been creating art. Coral works in many mediums. She is particularly known for her ivory carving and fine weaving. She creates unique pieces of jewelry from walrus ivory, never repeating a design, and plaits delicate baskets from beach grass she picks and cures herself. |
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Medium: Bead Work, Skin Sewing
My name is Jessica Christiansen. I grew up in Old Harbor and have lived in Kodiak for nearly seven years. I became interested in Native arts throughout elementary, junior / high school during our cultural weeks in Old Harbor. In school we did wood carving, making bentwood hats and Alutiiq masks, along with skin sewing. During the summers, while away visiting my grandmother in the Interior of Alaska, she taught me how to sew with beads. Being as young as I was, beading interested me from day one. I became great at it. I love the beauty in my work, especially my suncatchers. I also enjoy skin sewing. My sea otter bears are very valuable to me but I would like to expand my variety of skin sewn projects.
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Medium: Weaving
Alutiiq artist Vickie Era has been weaving, teaching weaving, and showing her artwork professionally for 13 years, although she began learning from her mother when she was quite young. Vickie has also studied under and worked with many of the Northwest master basket weavers from the Puyallup, Lummi, Makah, Quinault, Tlingit, Skokomish and Chehalis tribes. |
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Medium: Beading (Headdresses, Baskets, and Spirit Pouches)
Artist, Leona Haakanson-Crow, daughter of Sven and Mary, was born and raised in the village of Old Harbor. She loves being a Native Artist, because it connects her to her Alutiiq heritage. |
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Medium: Wood Carving, Photography, Silver Jewelry, and Logo Design
Born and raised in the Alutiiq village of Old Harbor, Sven is the son of Sven and Mary Haakanson. Sven has always loved working with wood. As a boy he remembers carving boats with his friends, although his formal study of carving began 19 years ago. As an anthropology graduate student at Harvard University, Sven studied rare collections of Alutiiq objects. He was particularly inspired by carvings and began to investigate their manufacture. His research took him from Harvard’s Peabody Museum to the Field Museum in Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and eventually, to museums across Europe. With ancestral knowledge in his grasp, he consulted Alutiiq Elders for carving advice. Larry Matfay and George Inga taught him to built traps, and Dennis Knagin and William Ignatin helped him to learn bow construction. |
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Medium: Carving, Drum Making
Born and raised in the Kodiak Alutiiq community of Old Harbor, Doug Inga spent his childhood making slate arrows like those used by his ancestors for seal hunting. As an adult, he became inspired by the artwork of Jacob Simeonoff and began carving. Today, much of his inspiration comes from books illustrating Alaska Native art and artifacts. A recent trip to France, to view the historic Pinart collection - 19th century masks from Kodiak, has also had a major impact on his work. Inga is particularly inspired by Alutiiq bowls, which he enjoys making. He hopes to perpetuate Alutiiq culture through his artwork. |
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Medium: Drawing (ink and pencil) and Mask Carving, Tote Bags
Hi, my name is Tanya K. Inga an Alutiiq artist born in Old Harbor, Alaska. I've been specializing in beautifully crafted and painted Alutiiq masks, petroglyphs which I call Good Luck Feathers, and colorful ink and pencil drawings. |
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Medium: Metal art
Helm Johnson and Alisha Drabek grew up on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Helm spent much of his youth outdoors: hiking, riding bikes, fishing, skipping stones and walking beaches. Alisha spent much of hers on boats and beaches. They feel that their artwork is how they honor their connection to the rhythms of the land and sea. |
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Medium: Painting, Drawing, Photography
Bethany Knagin is a high school students who has just begun to reveal her artistic talents. Since childhood, she has been interested in drawing and painting, but she never imagined a career in art. That is, until her father, Alutiiq artist Gary Knagin, asked for her help designing some miniature paddles for the Alutiiq Museum's Christmas Bazaar. The paddles were such a success that Bethany was inspired to explore painting further.
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Medium: Carving and Painting
In 2001, after a 25 year hiatus, Gary Knagin began to reexplore his interest in art. In 2006, he traveled to France with a group of Alutiiq artists to study ancestral objects in the Pinart collection. This experience transformed his carvings, which are now displayed in Native Corporations offices and and private homes in Kodiak, Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, Kona, Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, and Ft. Lauderdale. |
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Medium: Modern Dentalium Jewlery
In 1977 I was born in Kodiak, AK to Jerry and Esther Laktonen. Our family of six lived off the main gravel road in the Native village of Larsen Bay. Only accessible by foot trail, we were up on a hill inside the bay from the rest of the village. We spent most of the year subsistence hunting, fishing, and crabbing and the summers commercial fishing for salmon.
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Medium: Bronze Sculpture, Jewlery, Headdresses
Darlene is an Alaska Native artist of Aleut and Irish descent, born to John and Mae Robinson in 1942. She is known for creating contemporary jewelry and Alutiiq headdresses that draw on her strong cultural traditions. In 2002 she turned to clay and began to make sculptures that vividly reveal her strong affinity to her Aleut/Alutiiq ancestors.
Darlene has exhibited her work at museums, art exhibits, and cultural centers throughout Alaska and her sculptures are in private and corporate collections. Darlene lives in Homer, Alaska with her husband Peter who is well known for his ivory carving, bentwood hats, and other traditional items.
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Medium: Carving & Painting
Patrick Lind was born and raised in a small fishing village located 250 now off of Kodiak Island. He graduated from high school with honors and worked as a commercial fisherman before earning his living as an artist. Patrick says, "My life has led me to be a cultural freelance artist. Being surrounded by the rugged coastal region inspires me as an artist to take pride in my culture. Intensive research and studies allowed me to recreate histories past, rendering captive moments on canvas and art paper. My skills cover a number of mediums - wood, ivory, baleen, soapstone, and acrylic paints." |
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Medium: Bentwood Visors, Carving in Wood, Ivory and Soapstone
Born in a sod house in Chignik, Alaska in 1930, Artist Peter Lind began carving when he was just 7 years old. With an old pocket knife he fashioned a small boat. Thus began a life long interest in carving inspired by his Aleut / Alutiiq heritage. Today Peter lives in Homer, Alaska with his wife, artist Darlene Lind.
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Medium: Bentwood Visors, Carving in Wood and Ivory
Peter Andrew Lind, Jr. was born in Dillingham in 1964 and raised in the Bristol Bay area. He comes from a long standing fishing family - his father with a drift permit for the Bristol Bay and sisters with set net sites. He started doing art work in the late 1980's, when fishing was bad.
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Medium: Beading
Tisha Lind is a life long beader who lives in the community of Port Heiden, Alaska. "I was very small when I first learned how to bead. I started out making bracelets and necklaces around age 6. I bead and make other crafts as hobbies, usually only spending a few hours at a time each evening. Lately, my few hours each night has been greatly reduced due to the arrival of my son. We live in Port Heiden, Alaska and enjoy every minute of it."
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Medium: Sculpture, Carving
Named for her grandmothers, Lydia Lohse and Irene Graves, Lydia Irene Lohse is an Alutiiq artist. The daughter of Doug Lohse and Lita Ecklund, she was born and raised on Kodiak Island, and spent much of her time between Kodiak and Spruce Island.
Amazed and intrigued by the petroglyphs found around Kodiak Island, and aware that many people would never have the chance to observe them first-hand because of their remoteness; Lydia chose to marry these important cultural icons to another art medium - clay sculptures - to bring them to the public in an intriguing manner.
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Medium: Skin Sewing
Twenty-two years ago, Susan Malutin began working with animals skins when her husband Roger came home with a sea otter pelt and requested a hat. Since that first garment, Susie has worked diligently to learn the art of skin sewing and to uncover, reawaken, and share Alutiiq sewing traditions.
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Medium: Boat Building, Carving & Jewelry Design
Raised in the small Alutiiq village of Old Harbor, Alfred Naumoff has been carving for nearly 30 years and he is widely recognized for his skill. He has sold examples of his carvings privately and through the gift stores at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Alutiiq Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Additionally, he has contributed pieces to the Alutiiq Museum's permanent collection, acted as a carving demonstrator at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and taught carving at the Palmer Museum. In 2005, Naumoff was one of 10 Alutiiq artists who traveled to France to study Alutiiq masks in the Pinart collection, a journey which inspired much of his present work.
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Medium: Silver Jewelry
My name is Larissa Olsen. I am an Alutiiq Native. My parents are Olga Rowland and Buddy Pestrikoff. I have lived on Kodiak Island all my life. I am proud to be part of the rich vibrant culture of the Alutiiq people, and I enjoy incorporating Alutiiq heritage into my jewelry.
I create unique, high quality, silver jewelry pieces, enhanced with my own Alaska Native heritage. My jewelry is created using Metal Art Clay, torch fired and enhanced with vibrant gemstone bead work.
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Medium: Skin Sewing, Sculpture, & Painting
Hanna Palmer was born in Kodiak, Alaska, to Sophie Frets and Bruce Burns. Her grandparents were Walt and Edna Hansen. She has always enjoyed art. When she moved back to Kodiak in 2006, Hanna began exploring Native art. She currently works primarily with skin, clay, acrylic paint, and photography, but she also enjoys wood burning and jewelry making. "I enjoy all aspects of art and am extremely grateful that I get to pursue art here in Kodiak." said Hanna. |
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Medium: Weaving, Skin Sewing
June (Simeonoff) Pardue was born and raised in the Kodiak Island village of Old Harbor where she began weaving at age 15. The late Fedosia Inga, taught June’s mother, Sophia, to weave. Sophia taught June. Today June her husband, Charlie Pardue, teach their daughters and grandchildren their Native tradition of creating objects and artwork.
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Medium: Ivory and Bone Carving
Alutiiq artist Budd Pestrikoff has been carving wood, ivory and bone for over a decade. A life-long resident of Kodiak Island, he was born born in Shearwater, grew up in the village of Old Harbor, and now resides in the City of Kodiak. Buddy taught himself to carve after a friend gave him a piece of ivory. Today he makes a living as an artist and does many special order projects. Buddy often incorporated images from Kodiak's ancient petroglyphs into his work.
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Medium: Basket weaving, Beading (Baskets, cultural bands and headdresses)
Sugpiaq Artist, Annie May Peterson-Lewis was born in her parent’s home in Old Harbor, Alaska. Her parents, Victor and Martha raised their six children in the village of Old Harbor. Annie May has taken great pride in participating in her Alutiiq cultural revival.
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Medium: Fused Glass Jewelry, Skin Sewing
Artist Gwen Sargent was born and raised on Kodiak Island and is of Alutiiq, Russian, and Scandanavian decent. Growing up on Kodiak Island gave her an appreciation for natural beauty surrounding her and she has fond memories of beach combing, berry picking, and fishing on the island growing up. Kodiak Island is beautiful and inspiring!
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Medium: Oil Painting
A lifelong Alaskan, Gloria N. Selby is an Alutiiq artist who was born in Kodiak, Alaska, and raised in Afognak Village until the 1964 earthquake and tsunami. The allure of the island continues to have a strong impact on her artwork. Gloria's paintings depict life in the Kodiak archipelago with colors and light inspired by the natural environment. Glowing mountain sunrises, cool dark forest, starry skies, and dazzling wildflowers fill her canvases.
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Medium: Kodiak Botanical Salves and Balms
Susan has lived on Kodiak, Afognak and Raspberry islands for more than 50 years, enjoying a subsistence lifestyle and studying wild plants. She learned to identify, prepare and use local plants from her mother, her stepmother - of Karluk - and and her grandmother. Classes, workshops, and books on wild crafting, growing, and preparing botanicals for medicinal use have also enhanced her knoweldge. |
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Medium: Basketry, Painting & Drawing
Originally from Montana, Arlene came to Kodiak in 1960. She is a multi-faceted artist who has been weaving fine grass baskets for many years. She has also enjoyed drawing and painting since early childhood. Her renewed interest in painting has now come full circle. Inspired by the local scenery, she is using her personal choice of colors to express her feeling about her home, using both watercolor and acrylic paint.
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Medium: Wood Carving, Painting
Kathleen Skonberg has been painting images of the Alutiiq world for more than twenty years. She discovered her talent for graphic arts in high school, illustrating scenes of the landscape that she loves. She recently began to paint wooden objects, including paddles crafted by Danny Farsovich, and to explore carving. Inspiration for her work comes from the natural environment, traditional objects, and her own experiences.
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Medium: Boat Carving, Painting, and Drawing
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Medium: Painting
I was born on Kodiak Island and have resided here most of my life. I was raised in Port Lions, a small fishing village on Kodiak. My parents commercial fished for most of my upbringing. I was always inspired by the ocean and the many mysteries and beauty it held. From the salmon returning to spawn in the stream or river they hatched from or the birds that migrate thousands of miles just to nest. How could one not be inspired? |
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Medium: Wood Carving, Boat Building
Ronald Torsen is both a boat captain and a gifted wood worker. Captain Ron's latest pursuits have led him deep into his Alaskan Native heritage to create objects that are precious and significant to the people of the Alutiiq region. |
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Medium: Beaded Pouches, Fused Glass Beads
Nola Vagner, known to many as "Misha", has been an artist for most of her life. Born and raised in Afognak Village in the 1950s and 1960s, she is descended from the Mullan, von Scheele, Gregorioff, Erikalov, Chernikoff, Zyrianov, and Ladygin (of Atka) families. Her grandfathers Herman von Scheele and Barney Mullan settled in Afognak to raise their families. She is grateful for their choice. According to Misha, "It is a very beautiful, spiritual, serene, artistic, natural environment." |
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Medium: Wood Carving
Micheal Webber is a lifelong Cordova resident of Alutiiq and Tlingit ancestry. Imporant to Mike is the fact that both of his parents and three of his four grandparents were born and raised in Cordova, in Katalla, and in Ellama (a now abandoned Alutiiq village in Prince William Sound). His ancestors reach back to the first footsteps in this region. For this reason, Mike feels strongly bond to Cordova, Prince William Sound, and the Copper River, his sacred homelands. |
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Medium: Skin Sewing
Skin sewer Lalla Williams is the daughter of Lucille Antowok-Davis of the Kodiak Island village of Karluk. At age 43 she attended the Institute of American Indian Art - studying museum practices and creative arts. Lalla's artwork is inspired by her heritage and more than 20 years of researching Alutiiq traditions. According to Lalla, "I have been blessed with the overwhelming urge to create art. Since I was young I was always experimenting with sewing, dyeing and making something out of cloth. When I discovered my Native roots in the ‘80’s, the choices of materials and objects increased phenomenally. My yearning to create art now had a new passion. I could celebrate the story of my people and the culture of my ancestors." |
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