Donny Varnell
Donald Varnell is a multi-discipline visual artist. Born in Ketchikan, Alaska, he grew up surrounded by a family of talented, well-known Haida weavers and culture bearers. His great-grandmother, Selina Peratrovich, and his grandmother, Delores Churchill, are largely responsible for revitalizing cedar bark and spruce root weaving in Southeast Alaska, teaching and sharing their cultural traditions through classes at the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, the University of Alaska Southeast and in communities throughout the region. His aunts, Holly Churchill and Evelyn Vanderhoop, and his mother, April Varnell are all accomplished and renowned weavers. They encouraged Donald to start weaving cedar bark as a young child beginning his exploration into the arts rooted in his culture.
Donald attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks where he broadened his aesthetic understanding and expanded his creative work using a variety of art mediums under the guidance of Alvin Amason, a Sugpiaq Alaskan painter and sculptor. Since 1995, Donald has continued to develop his skills through apprenticeships with distinguished Northwest Coast Native artists. He continues to study Northwest Coast design, sculpture, carving and oration with Tlingit master carver Nathan Jackson through an ongoing residency at the Edwin Dewitt Carving Center in Saxman, Alaska. Donald worked to expand his knowledge of Haida style design and carving with noted Haida carver Reg Davidson in the Village of Masset, Haida Gwaii, B.C. From 1995 – 1996 he spent cedar bark gathering and weaving with Holly Churchill.
Donald spent four months in New Orleans, Louisiana as a Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist in Residence. He is the recipient of a Rasmuson Foundation Artist Fellowship, Bill Holm Center Visiting Research Grant, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Unrestricted Fellowship for Painters and Sculptors. His work may be found in museum and private collections throughout the world. He is regularly commissioned to create new work and public art pieces. His art is frequently featured in group shows and he has had solo exhibitions at the Alaska State Museum, Juneau, Alaska and the Main Street Gallery, Ketchikan, Alaska.
Today, Donald brings diverse themes to his art and does not restrict his work to one specific medium. Known for his cutting edge totem poles, panels and paintings, Varnell transforms traditional Northwest Coast design into something new and distinctive and continually challenges perceptions of tradition and meaning in Native American art.