Jay Brabant

Jay Brabant was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1970. He is an artist of Cree descent who loves the Northwest Coast Native Art form and has a deep reverence and respect for the origins of the style, design and the peoples it has come from.

Jay began carving at the age of eight under the tutelage of his father Gene Brabant. Gene studied with John Livingstone and Tony Hunt Sr. at Arts of The Raven Program between 1971-1980 and Jay grew up in his cedar chips. Jay had the privilege to study and work many years under and alongside some of the best Native Artists from the North West Coast. Over the years he has been an apprentice, helping to carve and produce ceremonial pieces and poles.

Jay works with wood, metal, shell and paper. His primary medium is red and yellow cedar, along with alder and spruce. Jay has been trained in the Kwakwaka’wakw style but he often works in classical Nuxalk or Bella Coola, Tlingit and Haida styles. He has been taught the traditional/ proper shapes and formline that define the historical properties and stories of the pieces with respect and dignity in great detail. He primarily carves original Northwest Coast Native Art and is occasionally commissioned for art pieces of historic master works. He has traveled extensively to visit museums and study older pieces.

Jay, like his father Gene, has often chosen to work on the perimeters of the market although he has been included in many exhibitions and is represented in many private and corporate collections. He continues to produce a variety of totem poles, masks, rattles and bentwood boxes. His works are featured in fine galleries in Canada and Alaska as well as in “Northwest Coast Carving Traditions” by Karen and Ralph Norris and in many editions of the North American Indian Art Magazine.