the Origin of Mosquitoes and Other Legends

The Origin of Mosquitoes and Other Legends

The Art of

g l a s s c o n t e m p o r a r y

S c h a n tz G a l l e r i es

Preston Singletary

Preston Singletary How Mosquitoes Came to Be A Tlingit Legend Long time ago there was a giant who preyed upon the human beings. The people called a council to discuss ways and means to get rid of this giant. One man said, “I think I know how to kill the monster,” and he went to the place where the giant had last been seen. There he lay down and pretended to be dead.

Soon the giant came along. Seeing the man lying there, he said: “These humans are making it easy for me, and the giant flung the man over his shoulder. Carrying the man home, the giant dropped him in the middle of the floor right near the fireplace. Then he saw that there was no firewood, and went to get some. As soon as the monster left, the man got up and grabbed the giant’s huge skinning knife. When he entered the cave, the man plunged the knife into the giant’s heart, which he knew was in his left heel.

Origin of Mosquitoes (reverse)

The monstrous giant fell down dead, and yet, the giant still spoke. “Though I’m dead, though you killed me, I’m going to keep on eating you and all the humans in the world forever!”

“That’s what you think!” said the man. “I’m about to make sure that you never eat anyone again.” He burned the giant’s body in the fire. Then he took the ashes and threw them into the air for the winds to scatter. Instantly each of the particles turned into a mosquito. The cloud of ashes became a cloud of mosquitoes and from their midst the man heard the giant’s voice laughing, saying: “Yes, I’ll eat you people until the end of time. “As the monster spoke, the man felt a sting and a mosquito started sucking his blood; and then many mosquitoes stung him and he began to scratch himself!

Origin of Mosquitoes, 2009 17.25 x 11 x 5�

The Journey (Oystercather Rattle), 2010

21 x 17 x 6.5 inches

Schantz Galleri es

c o n t e m p o r a r y

g l a s s

We are honored and pleased to present our first catalog of new works by Preston Singletary, and we hope you enjoy some of the legends that are such an important aspect of his art.

This past year Preston has been honored with a mid career retrospective, “Echoes, Fire and Shadows” at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington. In 2011, the exhibition will travel to the Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

Throughout the past 25 years, Preston has excelled in the way of technical achievement. He developed his talents as a glassblower working with Seattle area artists, Benjamin Moore and Dante Marioni. Early on, his work drew heavily from European glass artworks, especially those done in the Modernist style. Over the past twenty years his career has taken him to the Kosta Boda glass factory in Sweden and the hot shops of Lino Tagliapietra, Checco Ongaro, and Pino Signoretto in Murano. Since taking part in a workshop at the Pilchuck School in 1984, Preston has continued his relationship as both teacher and board member.

The great phenomenon in Preston’s career has been the rediscovery of his cultural heritage and finding his ancestral voice. Preston Singletary grew up in the Seattle area listening to stories told by his great-grandparents, who were both full Tlingit. In the early 1990’s, the artist began to experiment with transferring Tlingit designs, traditionally carved in wood, to the medium of glass. To Singletary, the material felt particularly appropriate, “Native cultures are always moving forward and adapting to new materials… Representing Tlingit designs in glass felt like a logical next step to me – and glass gives the work a permanence that wood can’t duplicate.” Today he is perhaps best known for his use of glass to express and explore traditional Tlingit themes. Many of his works reference clan crests, including the killer whale, which his family claims.

Preston is regarded as the “bridge artist” between First Nations art and the contemporary glass movement of the Pacific Northwest. Aboriginal artists from around the world have recognized the potential of glass as a possible new direction and Pilchuck has been most supportive in outreach programs and in offering artist in residency programs to aboriginal artists. In 2001, Preston was instrumental in creating the Founder’s Totem Pole at Pilchuck. Preston has already collaborated with a number of Aboriginal artists including Joe David, Tammy Garcia, Lewis Tamahana Gardinier, and Ed Archie Noisecat.

Preston continues to bring together a depth of spirituality while continuing explore and expand glass as a contemporary art medium. We invite you to enjoy this remarkable body of recently completed works that Preston has created.

Jim Schantz and Kim Saul ~ July 2010

The Journey (detail)

Killer Whale Totem, 2009 20 .5vx 3.75

Blue Eagle/Bear Totem, 2010 20.75 x 4.5 x 4.5�

Raven Steals the Sun, 2009 19.25 x 9 x 6.5”

Raven Steals the Light Raven had created everything else, and all living creatures, but they all lived in darkness. Raven heard of the great chief that was living on the upper firmament above the Nass River who had a very beautiful daughter who possessed the sun, moon, and stars that were safely kept in a carved cedar boxes. Her father and the people in the village guarded her and the boxes very well.

Raven thought how he would trick them into giving him their treasures. So, he flew to a tall tree close to their great cedar house and turned himself into a hemlock needle. He dropped into the daughter’s glass of water and she drank it.

Inside her stomach Raven turned himself into a baby and soon after, she gave birth to a son. The chief was warned by a wise man, that this was not an ordinary child, “He has the eyes of a Raven, they are old, sly, and move like Raven’s.”

Disguised as his precious grandchild, Raven wanted to play with the boxes that held the moon and stars, and he would not stop crying till his grandfather gave them to him. Raven quickly opened them and threw them up through the smoke hole in the middle of the house. The moon and stars scattered through the dark sky.

Raven started crying for the box that held the sunlight. He cried and cried, he wouldn’t stop till his grandfather finally gave it to him.

Raven pretended to play with the box for a long time, as he was now being carefully watched by the clan who protected the boxes of light. All of the sudden, he turned himself into a bird and flew up through the smokehole. Originally Raven was a white bird, but after he flew through the smoke hole he turned black from the soot of the fire.

Raven flew far from the Nass River till he came upon some people. He asked them, “Who are you and would you like some light to see?”

They accused Raven of lying and said to him, “Nobody can give light.” Raven opened the box and the sun came out. At first people were so scared they ran away and scattered to all parts of the world. So that is why the Raven clan is scattered all over, and we now have the sun, moon and stars and we no longer live in darkness.

Raven Hat 7.5 x 20.5�

“Glass has an inherent sculptural quality that showcases another dimension. I like to think of the shadows created by the glass as showing a fourth dimension of the piece ... a sort of kinetic sculpture that is only revealed when the lighting is right.� ~ Preston Singletary

Raven Transformation Mask 6 x 6.5 x 19�

“The form is based on a bear's tooth. Teeth like these are often carved into little fetish or charms which can be worn. Usually they refer to a certain vision that a shaman would have, or help with connecting him with his spirit helpers, which are usually animals.

I have chosen a human figure which is also a killer whale. The human figure has another head above it which is the Killer Whale. If you look on the back you can see the anatomy of the Killer Whale. The forms coming off the back of the human can also be seen as the rib bones of the animal.”

~ Preston Singletary

Capable of Transforming 29 x 7.5 x 4”

Salmon The salmon is a very important fish for the Tlingit and is the primary staple of their diet. The salmon was cooked fresh on the fire or was smoked or dried to preserve it for later use. All animals and fish were always treated the respect. There were in place fishing rituals that were observed before and during fishing. The Tlingit also placed the bones of the eaten salmon back in the water to ensure they regenerate into more salmon that would come back to feed the community.

Salmon, 2010 26.25 x 7 x 4�

As with many things liminal, it is what you glimpse as you stop looking that is the essence. The ourobous is a symbol of regeneration. Using the positive and negative space in both the eagle and the raven within this work, Singletary has alluded to the dark and the light aspects of both entities.

Eagle/Raven Ouroboros 18.25 x 13 x 3.25�

Tlingit Berry Basket, 2010 8.5 x 9.5�

Metallic Basket, 2009 13 x 9�

Raven Ladle, 2010 27.5 x 5.5 x 10 “

Raven’s Path 27.5 x 6 x 6”

EagleWarrior,2010 19x14x14�

COLLECTIONS Alaska Museum of Natural History, Anchorage, AK Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY City of Seattle, Portable Art Works Collection, Seattle, WA Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY (Rakow Commission) Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA Handelsbanken, Stockholm, Sweden Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm, Sweden Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA Museum of the Red River, Idabel, OK National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA St. Paul's Cathedral, Oklahoma City, OK Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS Washington Mutual Savings Bank, Seattle, WA Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia, WA

“Glass has a defining historic connection with Native Americans in the form of trade beads, which were quickly adopted as a form of ornamentation for clothes and other ceremonial objects. I feel that my work is an exploration of the material of glass and an interpretation of the feeling of Northwest Coast Art and its symbols.

I started blowing glass directly out of high school and had the fortuitous opportunity to learn through practical experience. As I never went through university art school training, I learned about art by working with other artists and attending workshops at the Pilchuck Glass School. This experience prompted me to learn about art through what excited me or jarred my interest.

At some point I came across a catalog about the modern art movement and “primitivism.” I realized that there was a lot of dialogue about how modern art was influenced by art of “primitive” societies. These artists tried to embody the spirit of the objects created by other cultures that referenced man’s connection to nature and the cosmos. This was a turning point for me. My work began to take on a more figurative and narrative style with a new intent. I found a source of strength and power that brought me back to my family, society, and cultural roots.

I see my work as an extension of tradition and a declaration that Native cultures are alive and developing new technologies and new ways of communicating the ancient codes and symbols of this land.” ~ Preston Singletary

Preston Singletary

Magic Canoe 7.75 x 23 x 3�

S chantz G aller i es c o n t e m p o r a r y

g l a s s

3 Elm Street, Stockbridge, Massachusetts www.schantzgalleries.com contact@schantzgalleries.com 413 298 3044

01262 Schantz Galleries 2010 Photography: Russell Johnson Design: Kim Saul