Osyter Catcher

Name/Title

Osyter Catcher

Entry/Object ID

2022.03.01

Description

Dean Hunt (b. 1977, Vancouver, British Columbia) is a visual artist, traditional tattoo practitioner & music producer from the Eagle Clan of the Heiltsuk Nation, Waglisla (Bella Bella). Hunt apprenticed under his father Bradley Hunt and older brother Shawn Hunt, where he learned the skills of Heiltsuk carving and design. He works primarily in gold, silver, and wood creating jewelry, masks and other objects, using forms and imagery inspired by his heritage and his family. Hunts is known for his experimentation, adding a subtitle contemporary look to traditional Northwest Coast art designs. For example, the artist makes use of bright neon colours in both his carvings and paintings. He has also played with form adding a modern clean-cut beard to a traditional bear mask. Hunt uses the tools his ancestors fought to hold onto through times of hardship and oppression, not only in his more traditional art practices, but also in his contemporary use of sound. Dean studied Studio Engineering and Music Production at Columbia Academy in Vancouver and has applied his skills as a music producer and DJ with the audio-visual collectives Skookum Sound System & See Monsters. Dean also completed a four-week artist intensive at Earthline Tattoo Residency in Kelowna with teacher Dion Kazsas (Nlaka'pamux Nation), where he learned traditional hand poke and skin stitch tattoo techniques. https://www.deanhunt.net/bio.html

Artwork Details

Medium

acrylic on wood

Made/Created

Artist

Hunt, Dean

Date made

2021

Dimensions

Height

101.6 cm

Width

76.2 cm