Bentwood Chest depicting Wolf, Thunderbird, and Killer Whale, c. 2000
By Andy Peterson, Skokomish
red cedar, pigment
23” height x 31.5” width x 17” depth
Note: According to Andy Peterson, this is one of the most spectacular carvings he has ever created. He noted this chest is a magical, one-of-a-kind carving, and would be impossible to duplicate as the old growth red cedar used had the perfect grain and patina.
Skokomish (Twana) Nation carver Andy Peterson was born in Shelton, WA in 1955. He has lived in the Skokomish community all of his life. Andy learned to make baskets and to gather basket materials with Skokomish elders Louisa Pulsifer and Emily Miller at the young age of 11.
At the age of eighteen he taught himself how to carve, paint and make bentwood boxes. His early work was mostly in the Northern style because that was most available and visible to learn from. In 1987, Andy graduated from the Evergreen State College with a B.A. While attending Evergreen, he assisted Makah artist Greg Colfax in carving a 12’ Woman Welcoming Figure for the campus. Another educational influence was the work of Andy’s great grandfather, Henry Allen, an artist talented at both carving and storytelling. Allen was also the major informant of an ethnographic study of the Twana People.
Andy Wilbur continues to contribute to the revival of Salish art in many ways: teaching carving, graphics, and painting classes to people of all ages at many schools and to many Tribes, striving to teach and to learn all he can about his traditional life style and art forms.
