Art from a new generation: The Lind family builds on tradition and creativity for the Rondy Native craft fair
In the 1990s you would have seen Peter Lind Sr., one of the first contemporary artists to recreate Aleut-style hunting visors. He was joined by his wife, Darleen, who made bronze sculpture, and his son, who had begun to follow in his father's footsteps. This year Peter Lind Jr. will be accompanied by his twin daughters, Chelsea and Marissa, who have picked up the family talent for handwork, but are exploring their own line of creativity: unique dream-catchers and one-of-a-kind dolls. "They came up with all this by themselves," said their father. "I didn't help." |
Quick sale
Like his father, Lind was a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay and Homer for many years. "There was a poor fishing season one year and I was sitting around trying to think of what else I could do to earn money," he recalled. "I'd seen how my dad did art in the winter so I started learning from him. He showed me things. That was, like, 30 years ago." Since then he's developed his own specialties that have caught the eye of collectors and scholars. Two years ago he received a Bill Holmes Grant that allowed him to visit the Burke Museum at the University of Washington to inspect their collection of Aleut and Alutiiq items. "They let me handle the artifacts," he said. "That was really important. I do a lot by looking, not by measuring." He became interested in masks in 2008, when a big show of antique Alutiiq carvings came to the Anchorage Museum. "I started looking at masks after I saw the 'Two Journeys' exhibit," he said. He got the exhibit catalog, "Giinaquq," and taught himself how to recreate them by looking at the pictures. At first he stuck with miniatures, which he thought would be cheaper for buyers and therefore easier to sell. He made his first full-size mask only recently and took it a craft show at the Dena'ina Center, intended to feature it as a display for his table. "It sold the first day," he said. "Within a couple of hours. I couldn't believe it." The sale of the showpiece meant he had to scramble. "I'm hoping to have a couple more in time for the Rondy show," he said in early February. Lind quit fishing eight years ago and now makes art as a full-time profession. He makes hunting visors, like his father. He also makes miniature human figures. He carves hunters' bodies from whalebone and has them sitting in kayaks made of yellow cedar. They sport the ornate hunting visors in miniature form, harpoons, coiled sinew rope and other tiny tools. "That's how I got into dolls," he said. He's since made full-figure dolls using the same materials: whalebone, fur, ivory and, for the faces, moose antler. Lind has discovered that a certain part of the antler can be worked to produce an appearance similar to ivory. His daughters have likewise picked up the doll form and are adding their own innovations to the style. |
Slow work
The Linds were living in the remote fishing village of Naknek when the twins were born. They moved to Homer when the girls were still young. Fishing was still the family business, but their new home was on the road system, a popular tourist destination, with a nationally recognized museum and a number of galleries. The move was a good thing, said Marissa. "Homer is such an art community."
"I've always wanted to participate in art," said Chelsea. "All-around art."
She and Marissa were interested in theater, writing, drawing and animation. They made the logo for the Homer Wooden Boat Festival a few years back.
Art seems to be everywhere in the house. Their older brother, Travis, who runs the family business website, recently had a video accepted for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, NFFTY, said to be the world's largest film festival for emerging directors, to be held in Seattle this spring.
Lind's wife, Susie, has had beading at the family table in the past, but the twins took over that part of the business some time ago, Peter said. They also started doing dream-catchers "with a twist," Marissa said. "It's the normal form, but we dress it in fur and embroider them with an animal. Each one has a story to tell."
"They draw people in," said Chelsea. "They talk to us and hear the backstory and learn about our culture."
Chelsea said she and Marissa are striving for a "combination of something modern and traditional. Kind of a new generation. The best of both worlds. It's just lucky for me to have such a great family background in Native art."
"We've been looking at doll stuff for a long time," she said. "I started doing a lot of research last year. It was hard to figure out."
The twins wanted to have a doll that would use traditional elements, like fur, hide and hand-sewn garments. But they also wanted it to have articulated joints, something like a modern fashion doll or artist's model figure.
After thinking about it, they came up with the idea of making the head, arms, hands and so forth individually and connecting them with ball joints. The parts were made from sculpted clay, baked in the kitchen oven, connected and then clothed.
"It took us a week and a half to assemble the first doll," said Marissa. "It was trying to figure out how to do something you've never done before."
The twins bought doll hair from a craft store, but it didn't quite look right on a Native woman. "I had to straighten, cut and place each hair individually," Chelsea said. "Fifteen hours a day. I was up until 2 a.m."
The eyelashes were also store-bought, from the makeup department, and cut down to size. The body parts were strung together with elastic string. Beadwork, tassels and dance fans were added.
"I knew the more decorations it had, the more unique it would be," said Chelsea.
The second doll of a man, or "dude doll" in Marissa's words, was also highly decorated and still hard to figure out, but went more quickly.
The Linds were living in the remote fishing village of Naknek when the twins were born. They moved to Homer when the girls were still young. Fishing was still the family business, but their new home was on the road system, a popular tourist destination, with a nationally recognized museum and a number of galleries. The move was a good thing, said Marissa. "Homer is such an art community."
"I've always wanted to participate in art," said Chelsea. "All-around art."
She and Marissa were interested in theater, writing, drawing and animation. They made the logo for the Homer Wooden Boat Festival a few years back.
Art seems to be everywhere in the house. Their older brother, Travis, who runs the family business website, recently had a video accepted for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, NFFTY, said to be the world's largest film festival for emerging directors, to be held in Seattle this spring.
Lind's wife, Susie, has had beading at the family table in the past, but the twins took over that part of the business some time ago, Peter said. They also started doing dream-catchers "with a twist," Marissa said. "It's the normal form, but we dress it in fur and embroider them with an animal. Each one has a story to tell."
"They draw people in," said Chelsea. "They talk to us and hear the backstory and learn about our culture."
Chelsea said she and Marissa are striving for a "combination of something modern and traditional. Kind of a new generation. The best of both worlds. It's just lucky for me to have such a great family background in Native art."
"We've been looking at doll stuff for a long time," she said. "I started doing a lot of research last year. It was hard to figure out."
The twins wanted to have a doll that would use traditional elements, like fur, hide and hand-sewn garments. But they also wanted it to have articulated joints, something like a modern fashion doll or artist's model figure.
After thinking about it, they came up with the idea of making the head, arms, hands and so forth individually and connecting them with ball joints. The parts were made from sculpted clay, baked in the kitchen oven, connected and then clothed.
"It took us a week and a half to assemble the first doll," said Marissa. "It was trying to figure out how to do something you've never done before."
The twins bought doll hair from a craft store, but it didn't quite look right on a Native woman. "I had to straighten, cut and place each hair individually," Chelsea said. "Fifteen hours a day. I was up until 2 a.m."
The eyelashes were also store-bought, from the makeup department, and cut down to size. The body parts were strung together with elastic string. Beadwork, tassels and dance fans were added.
"I knew the more decorations it had, the more unique it would be," said Chelsea.
The second doll of a man, or "dude doll" in Marissa's words, was also highly decorated and still hard to figure out, but went more quickly.
Advice from Dad
Although the twins have been making and marketing their art for the past few years, this Rondy show will be the first one they've attended with Silver Hand certification. Most of the 150 or so artists presenting work at the show have the certification, which authenticates that a piece is the work of an Alaska Native. However, the rules require that artists who participate in the program be age 18 or older. They passed that milestone last year, when they graduated from Homer High School.
The Linds have now moved to the Wasilla area. Peter Lind Sr. has a house in the same neighborhood. And while it's important for everyone to do his or her own work, there are still some insights that seem to be passed from one generation to the next.
- Art takes time: "The girls found out that the first one is always the hardest," said Peter Lind. "It's true. My first doll was the hardest to make, and it sure didn't look like the ones I make now."
- Share when you can: Peter Sr. and Jr. went in together to buy a whole yellow cedar tree from Canada, particularly suitable for hunting visors, which they split between them.
- Get your artwork out of the living space: The twins have to take over the kitchen when they make their dolls, but Peter got a separate work shed almost as soon as he got the house. In the wood building are materials, drills, a dust collector and a 14-inch band saw needed to cut through large whale vertebrae. "I don't believe in mixing," he said. "The garage is for cars."
- Use good tools: "I carve outside sometimes," Peter said. "And I use power tools. Some people have a problem with that. They want things made with traditional tools. I say that if those old guys had had this technology, they would have used it."
- Do good work: "I really wanted to do good work," Chelsea said. To which her father responded, "I won't put something on sale unless I'm happy with it."
Although the twins have been making and marketing their art for the past few years, this Rondy show will be the first one they've attended with Silver Hand certification. Most of the 150 or so artists presenting work at the show have the certification, which authenticates that a piece is the work of an Alaska Native. However, the rules require that artists who participate in the program be age 18 or older. They passed that milestone last year, when they graduated from Homer High School.
The Linds have now moved to the Wasilla area. Peter Lind Sr. has a house in the same neighborhood. And while it's important for everyone to do his or her own work, there are still some insights that seem to be passed from one generation to the next.
- Art takes time: "The girls found out that the first one is always the hardest," said Peter Lind. "It's true. My first doll was the hardest to make, and it sure didn't look like the ones I make now."
- Share when you can: Peter Sr. and Jr. went in together to buy a whole yellow cedar tree from Canada, particularly suitable for hunting visors, which they split between them.
- Get your artwork out of the living space: The twins have to take over the kitchen when they make their dolls, but Peter got a separate work shed almost as soon as he got the house. In the wood building are materials, drills, a dust collector and a 14-inch band saw needed to cut through large whale vertebrae. "I don't believe in mixing," he said. "The garage is for cars."
- Use good tools: "I carve outside sometimes," Peter said. "And I use power tools. Some people have a problem with that. They want things made with traditional tools. I say that if those old guys had had this technology, they would have used it."
- Do good work: "I really wanted to do good work," Chelsea said. To which her father responded, "I won't put something on sale unless I'm happy with it."