Malynn Wilbur-Foster is a Squaxin Island tribal member and is the middle daughter of renowned artists Andy Wilbur-Peterson (Skokomish) and Ruth Wilbur-Peterson. She was raised among her people near the Skokomish and Squaxin Island reservations and has lived there most of her life. She works in various mediums, but her focus is primarily in weaving, painting, jewelry and carving both stone and wood. She is passionate about the health and healing of her people and is a voice for the planet and all of her beings. She continues to live by the seasons of her people, grounded in the spiritual essence of resilience and finding new ways to thrive in an ever changing world. These things are often shown in her work. She is honored to speak the words her ancestors cannot.
Malynn’s work has been shown in galleries since 1998 and has been featured in 2 books, S’abadeb, The Gifts and Contemporary Art on the Northwest Coast: Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Makah, (Norris) and can be found in collections at the Seattle Art Museum, Burke Museum and Washington State History Museum. In 2015 she was commissioned to carve a traditional house post for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe with her father and was part of the team that helped carve the Jake Jones pole there too. In 2017, she had a solo show at Galerie Nativ in Prague, Czech Republic, featuring a series of paintings on canvas. In 2019, she was commissioned to create a series of stone carvings with her husband, Squaxin Island tribal member Mike Foster, for the Washington State Convention Center. In 2020 was commissioned to create a sculpture for the Seattle Water Front at the Salish Steps. She has received grants for her achievements in both art and for being an indigenous knowledge keeper.
Malynn is always looking for new ways to tell the stories of her people fusing traditions and technology. Everything she has learned has been the traditional way under mentors that are masters in their fields. Some of them include her parents, Andy (Skokomish) and Ruth Wilbur Peterson, Mike Foster (Squaxin Island), Richard Cultee (Skokomish), Lisa Telford (Haida), Yvonne Peterson (Chehalis), Roger Fernandes (Lower Elwha), Guy Capoeman (Quinault), and Alex McCarty (Makah).