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Vince Shaughnessy, b. 1959, Northwest Coast Kwakiutl Tribal Artist

Throughout history, man's imagination has populated the world with monstrous creations:  Satyrs, Cynocephali, Harpies, Centaurs, and today we look at Dzunukwa.

Shaughnessy was born into Kwakwaka'wakw royalty. His grandfather, Arthur Shaughnessy was the Chief of Kingcome Inlet, a principle fjord of the British Columbia coast.  He started his art carving apprentice under the coaching and mentoring of noted carvers, Kelvin Hunt and Jonathan Livingston at the Arts of the Raven Shop.

Cedar is plentiful along the northern Pacific Coast, and an excellent carving wood as it splits easily. Throughout his upbringing, he listened to the stories and myths of his people and developed the skills to portray these recited myths into Kwakiutl art, as in the cedar mask below.

Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), British Columbia, c. 1978
Ceder, under Black and Red/Orange Pigment, Horse Hair 
Alert Bay, Canadian Government Tag

Shaughnessy understood that Kwakiutl mythology is based on nature. During his childhood, he would have heard elders recite stories about tribal actors that wore masks and robes impersonating mythological characters. This Shaughnessy mask covers the frequently told story to children about Dzunukwa. Dzunukwa, translates into something like “Woman Ogre or Wild Woman of the Woods”. Before you get disturbed by this name read the rest of the story. 

So, this Kwakiutl mask represents a female ogre who devours children with a whistling voice that can only be heard in the forest. Dzunukwa, a creature believed to carry off wandering or misbehaving children, is larger than life, and hairy like a bear. She is also near-sighted like most bears and often sleepy in the daytime.  She is reclusive and rarely seen.

These stories were created to keep the presence of small children close to home, and designed to remind children not to wander into the nearby forest. This dramatic mask in cedar is considered a masterful depiction of Dzunukwa. Its highly sculpted with slanting, slit-shaped eyes set within deep sockets formed by a projecting beak-like nose, with heavy overhanging brows, and prominent, highly painted half-animal, half-human creatures of the forest. The hollow cheeks and pursed open mouth evoke her haunting cry.

Shaughnessy took great care into making this cedar ritual mask, complete with black and red-orange pigment and horse hair. Within Kwakiutl culture, no two masks are identical, each carver interpreted a given story in his own way. The Kwakiutl thought of humans and animals as primordial kin; at the time of creation, all creatures possessed both an animal and a human nature.



References:
  • McQuiston & McQuiston, 1994, In the Spirit of Mother Earth - Nature in Native American Art, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.
  • Museum Accessions, Gaylord Torrence, Fred and Virginia Merrill - Senior Curator of American Indian Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Magazine Antiques, January/February 2010, pg. 48. New York, NY.
  • Monsters, Anthony Bower, Art in America, No. Two April, 1965, pg. 66, New York, NY
  • Spirit of the West Gallery, Courtney, BC, Canada, Vince Shaughnessy, Short Biography, from the website.
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Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors.  These photos were created by Mr. Waller and all materials are used under the Fair Use Section 107, Copyright Act, unless otherwise noted.  #waller-yoblonskyblogspot  #vinceshaughnessy  #kwakiutlart #Halloweenstories

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