Raven Skyriver: SURGE

September

Official Opening Reception: First Thursday, September 7th, 6-8pm

Exhibition will be installed Sept 3-6.

Digital and Print Catalogs Available for this Exhibition. Scroll down to read digital catalog.

Young glass maestro Raven Skyriver (Tlingit) returns for an exhibition of sea-life from oceans and river systems that are threatened by pollution, ocean acidification, and over-fishing. Skyriver was born in the San Juan Islands in Northwest Washington, raised with a constant connection to nature. In his life he has seen that the Puget Sound and wider Salish Sea are the foundation of life in this region. The health of the rivers is the health of our Sound; its health is the health of our watershed. All water systems are connected, and if one is threatened and compromised, so are they all.

While the ecological status of our world seas and rivers leaves Skyriver heartbroken, he also believes that one of the ways we can bring back their health is through education. Skyriver creates these sculptures in order to bring us face to face–eye to eye–with the majesty and intelligence of species we rarely see. When we form personal relationships to wildlife we empathize more deeply, we keep them in mind, and we care about their health, their safety and their future.

Scroll to the bottom of this page to see exciting videos of Raven Skyriver blowing glass!

This exhibition is also a family affair, which includes photography on canvas by Skyriver’s sister Summer Moon Scriver (Tlingit), and a book signing by his mother, Irene Skyriver (Tlingit) at the exhibition opening. Summer Moon photographs the natural beauty of the Northwest and superimposes images of masks carved by the siblings’ father figure, Gregg Blomberg, over them in elegant harmony. Blomberg was the owner and operator of Kestrel Tool for forty years, which is where traditional carvers from all across the region would buy their hand tools for carving masks, totem poles and other sculpture. Irene Skyriver’s book, “Paddling with Spirits: A Solo Kayak Journey”, is a history of Irene’s own family–following her ancestors on both sides through oil booms, orphanages, wartime romances, dance halls and cattle ranches–and the story of her own wild solo kayak journey from Alaska to Washington. “Paddling With Spirits: A Solo Kayak Journey” will formally release in November, but advance copies will be available to view at the gallery during the opening reception.

Exhibition Dates: