 My Nephew Lee -Reaching For The Meat |
BFA Thesis Exhibit:
Colored Pencil Drawings
by
Amelia (Amy) Katherine Ahnaughuk (Barr)
Topkok
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INTRODUCTION: I am an Iñupiaq Eskimo from Kotzebue, Alaska (USA). My mother, Minnie E. Barr (Onalik), is from Noatak, and my father, Delano Barr, is from Shishmaref, Alaska. I have three sisters and two brothers, along with eight nieces and nephews. I have been living in Fairbanks since 1988, mostly during the school years, with the exception of the last three years, during which I have lived here year-round. Drawing is my way of seeing the world. If I draw, it is my way of transforming ideas and objects into something that others can understand. I learned early on in life that I could use drawing as a way of expressing my feelings and how I look at things. I also enjoy different types of art whether it be viewing art or taking classes in art - no matter what type of art it is. In doing so, I have learned how to improve my techniques and to stretch my abilities to where I can do more with my drawings. My academic art training began early on, from fifth grade through high school and it has continued here at UAF (since 1988). I have won several awards and honorable mentions in primary and secondary education. I have also had many entries into the UAF Student Art Show in the past nine years. I found an outlet for my work, especially my graphic art designs, through the NANA Regional Corporation (in Kotzebue), Festival of Native Arts (here in Fairbanks), the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), and, most recently, through the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. For my thesis, the type of drawing that I work on is based on photographic images. I use photographs that I have taken of family members and/or relatives working in subsistence activities. I also use other photographs from friends and pick out different aspects and/or objects to add to some of these drawings. The use of photographs is a key element for me to begin seeing in a two-dimensional form, and this use further expands my mind to where things lie and how they can be viewed, especially through Native eyes, my eyes. The focus of my drawings for my thesis started when I saw how important the spring hunt is to my family. My dad would take the whole family to Shishmaref every June so that he could hunt, providing food for us for the rest of the winter. I learned different things each year, but most of all, how important my mom is to me. She became the central part of my experience, engaging in the preparing and butchering of the seals and walruses that were caught in each hunt. Since I wasn't usually allowed in the hunt itself, I was exposed to this time of preparation. To prepare the meat and preserve it for the following winter is very important. What is important to me? Family is important. The subsistence way of life is important. The passing of knowledge from one generation to the next is important. Also being able to share that same knowledge with others (not in the family) is important too. I share by taking photographs and drawing from those photographs to create visions or insights of what I see, thus allowing others to share in the atmosphere and the feelings involved in conducting the subsistence activities. The time spent at the racks, where the seal-cutting took place, involved all the members of the family, from the older members cutting and doing all the work, to the children playing around the racks. The way I see it is that each drawing I do for my thesis is a window into these type of activities, activities that I usually don't see drawn in pencil, graphite, and presented in this manner. I want others to see what I see each spring at home. I know doing these drawings will bring about different feelings: awe, inspiration, wonder, or even familiar feelings like satisfaction of the hunt, and relief that there will be food for the next year. It's also the closeness to Nature and closeness to others that comes out, too. By sharing my drawings, others who haven't experienced these types of subsistence activities can at least enjoy the drawings by themselves. At least, that is what I hope I have attained. |
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OBJECTIVES - THESIS DESCRIPTION: Using photographs in my work, I concentrate on design, light, composition, and perspective. Realism in one perspective is one basic tool, as well as the other elements I have mentioned. I don't work in abstract design, but more towards graphic design. In this, I favor photographs with high contrast between the lights and darks. Since I am the one who snaps the photographs, my work begins there. My subject area is subsistence activities, such as skin-sewing and cutting seals, things that I see whenever I go home in the summer. I also see the importance of viewing Native life at home and presenting it as present-day Native lifestyles, and not those of a static world of fifty to hundred years ago. I want to portray my family and relatives using Western tools to enhance their world of subsistence lifestyle, without trying to portray them as primitive. This might not come across so vividly. However, the environment of the cutting of the seal will help others see more modern tools, as well as modern clothing. I understand that there are many people in this world who still see the Native lifestyle as that of early 20th century and not within this decade. Those who still have this misconception of Natives in general need to be aware of the environment that Natives live in today, so that they are in fact, just as ordinary and real as everyone else. In short, this will be a in-depth study on my culture, and how it can be viewed graphically, as well as an attempt to make people aware of the present-day Native life and environment. It involves my heritage and my sense of belonging in my culture. Physically I wanted each composition be done in a manner that would make the viewer think of where the place is that they are looking at, along with who they are looking at. Some compositions will be more close-up, making the object more than life-sized and making it more an "in-your-face" approach. The realistic style of life drawing is integral to each composition. My viewpoint is to look at the details of life without focusing too much in one area. The details are going to be important, since each detail leads to the whole picture. To add to the effect of these drawings during the exhibit, I will erect a small display in the middle of the art gallery. This includes driftwood, grass, sand, canvas cloth, and an old oil drum and perhaps some dried black seal meat hanging on the driftwood, just like those pictured in some of the drawings. |
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: There will be ten large-scale drawings matted onto foam-core, along with several smaller drawings (studies). All of these will not be framed because of the large-scale size, and keeping to the continuity of the presentation as a whole. They will range from two by three feet drawings to four by five feet drawings. They will not be fitted for hanging using hooks on the back of the board, but I will use mirror holders to help distribute the weight of the board evenly. MEDIUM: Materials include wax-based Prismacolor pencils or non wax-based Supracolor pencils, Mi-Tientes medium weight paper or other appropriate fine drawing paper, matte board or foam-core board, spray fixative, spray adhesive, and all other materials needed in getting the artwork ready for show. |
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November 17-21, 1997 You can see the article online featured in the Fairbanks Daily-News Miner. Comments or questions: contact Sean
Topkok (husband) |
Online graphics cannot compare to the actual drawings!
Not actual size/scale or quality of originals (download time would be very long)
Note: This page uses ISER's
Iñupiaq fonts. To download the font, go to:
http://www.alaskool.org
Go to the InupiaQ Phrasebook link to follow their
instructions.
Sigaabiaqtautuq -
Cigarette Break
58"W X 39 1/2"L
Niqsat paniaqsiat inipjui -
Hanging Meat
41 1/2"W X 30"L
Mom and Dad taking a break
My Nephew Lee
Sitting #1
Sitting #2
(placed in Student Art Show)
Skinsewing by the window
Standing #1
Standing #2