James Johnson

Aug 23

Written By Admin

KEEPERS

For the last fifteen years, James Johnson has been perfecting his take on the ancient craft of Tlingit wood carving. He is self-taught and did not grow up within the culture of his peo- ple, the Tlingit Ch’áak’ Dakl’aweidi Clan (Eagle Killerwhale), but has rectified this tenfold through his calling to pursue the traditional art form. To learn the foun- dations of formline—the term given to the particular style of Northwest Coast Indigenous art that utilizes fluid, curvi- linear ovoids, U forms, and S forms—he looked to the past. Vigorous study of antique pieces in museum collections built the foundations for the artist, as did time with admired elders like Nathan Jackson, who encouraged compositional balance through drawing.

Johnson has become an inadvertent but passionate educator, constantly being invited to demonstrate his skills or speak about the art form at events; this openness has led to meaningful commercial collaborations. But it is the more traditional objects like clan hats that hold his attention most, carved from red or yellow cedar and inlaid with abalone. His renditions of seal bowls are often painted black to represent the historical grease bowls he studied, still dark and sticky centuries later. Though they bear his contemporary signature, it is important to Johnson that his pieces remain as functional as those used in ceremonies one thousand years ago, and one thousand years into the future.

B. 1978, Juneau, AK
Lives and works in Phoenix, AZ

jamesjohnsonnativeart.com
@jamesjohnsonnativeart