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Artist Jennifer Angaiak Wood (Yup’ik/Irish/Italian) will share stories of her Yup'ik heritage and how the material culture of the Yupiit informs her creations. Using historic objects and traditional stories as a foundation, Jennifer will show how she interprets these concepts from a contemporary perspective and using modern materials.
Jennifer Angaiak Wood was born and raised in Fairbanks, AK. Her parents are Andy and Marie Angaiak of Fairbanks, AK, and her grandparents are Mike and Susie Angaiak of Tununak, AK, and Kip and Pat Morey of Menlo Park, CA. While growing up she spent summers with the Yup’ik side of her family in Tununak, AK. Her artistic expression was greatly informed by experiences she had there. Today her main focus is on carving masks from that region. Her designs are inspired by ancestral artworks, but incorporate modern materials and concepts to emphasize that the Yup’ik are a contemporary culture, not just an historic one. After Jennifer’s first carving teacher Ron Manook passed away in 1999, she has been mostly self-taught, but learned to use adzes and traditional bent knives from some Seattle-based artists after moving there in 2015. She lives in Indianola, WA, with her husband and two kids, and works out of her home studio.
This presentation is part of Creativity in Conversation: An Indigenous Artist Talk Series presented by the Arizona State Museum and supported in part by funding from:
