SYLVESTER AYEK (Onanayak)Inupiaq Born: King Island, 1940s Residence in 1986: Anchorage Personal statement by the artist from "ALASKAMEUT '86, An Exhibit of contemporary Alaska Native Masks" edited by Jan Steinbright, Institute of Alaska Native Arts, 1986, pages 12-13. "I think my interest in masks goes back to the time when I got out of school. I started seeing different forms, challenging forms of masks especially from the Yukon Kuskokwim area where their masks are very elaborate and kind of baffling. I thought that was kind of interesting so I got into masks and started coming up with new forms in masks of my own design. I thought that was kind of neat. Evidently the people were intrigued or fascinated with these new forms in masks, unlimited ideas that are possible in maskmaking. I did quite a few copies of Yukon Kuskokwim masks because they are very elaborate; they are complex in their own way--something like totemic designs. Our masks (Inupiaq) are very plain from maybe Unalakleet on up to Barrow area. They are very plain. There are hardly any decorations of any kind except for paint. There are two or three natural paints they use like red ochre and bark that they use to dye seal skins (red) and then there's lead. They used lead for a grayish-black color. And since commercial colors are very much available that are almost the shade of what we use to color our masks, I like the idea of using more commercial colors. Although I still use red ochre and different colors I pick up from here and there in Southwest Alaska. "I have done quite a lot of ivory carving since I got out of school and I find it's no longer challenging. It's too limiting. I prefer to work on wood today, softwood, hardwood, and if I had my way I probably would be doing more abstract pieces than traditional ones. I would be comfortable doing something in plastic, although there would probably be a lot of criticism using a foreign material other than driftwood or commercial wood. But I don't discriminate on any material at all because any material as I see it is a possible object of art. "I think we are in a generation where we have a lot to do with preserving traditional ways and traditional forms of our culture, while at the same time getting into contemporary form also; showing the younger people that it is possible to be an artist in any generation and it's very interesting. I haven't heard any negative comments from elders about what we contemporary artists are doing. Probably they would be against going as far as getting too abstract, with masks for instance. "I think preservation has been done to the limits under the circumstances we have seen. Where are we going to go when we reach these limits of preserving? I think rather than becoming too repetitious in traditional forms, it is only appropriate to experiment with traditional forms in the time of using more modern materials. I think as these artists-to-be get older, they will realize that we have preserved as much as we can out of our culture and it's time to go onto something else. "If all forms of masks are being created today and accepted by the public, the possibilities in the market are unlimited, not only for self satisfaction but for economic reasons too. What disturbs me is when others say they don't do this for economic reasons. I think I have mixed feelings about that. This is the only way I know how to make a living. For one, so that's economic. But I get good satisfaction too when new forms in masks come out just right." |