Jerry Laktonen
Alutiiq artist Jerry Laktonen was born in 1951 on Kodiak Island, Alaska. He grew up in a family of fishermen and woodworkers, learning valuable skills that would later help him with his art. Jerry initially began a career as a commercial fisherman, but that lifestyle changed due to the impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. So, at the age of 45, Jerry turned to carving. In 1995 he gave up fishing to become a full time artist, launching a new career that helped him reclaim his Alutiiq heritage and create beautiful carvings to share with the world.
Jerry combines his talent with painstaking research to produce stunning masks and ceremonial paddles. He turns to books and museums to discover more about his Alutiiq heritage and uses this knowledge to create his own versions of his findings. Using traditional motifs, he adds personal touches sometimes staying along the lines of tradition or playfully presenting a new idea. Jerry’s ancestors used driftwood to fashion their carvings, however, his favorite material is old growth cedar. He adheres to the Alutiiq tradition of painting his pieces in vivid colors with designs that are often rich with precise detail. Despite this quest for technical accuracy, Jerry is sure that a trance like "knowing" of ancestral presence ultimately inspires his carving.
Jerry has received several awards from the prestigious annual Santa Fe Indian Market. His masks and paddles are featured in permanent museum collections, as well as numerous private collections throughout the United States including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Alaska State Museum, Alutiiq Museum, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Autry National Center of the American West, Haffenreffer Museum, the University of Washington's Burke Museum and the Château-Museé, in France.
His work was also featured in the traveling exhibit "Looking Both Ways" on Alutiiq culture. His somewhat controversial basswood carving featured in the exhibit, a mask entitled "Joe Hazelwood", is a reference to the Captain of the Exxon Valdez and the oil spill that changed his life. The Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Oregon selected another of his pieces, titled “Sugpiaq Imaq,” as a design for a premium Native American Pendleton Blanket.
Sharing his art and heritage brings joy to Jerry. “I have discovered how indescribably beautiful the Alutiiq culture is, and feel almost like I have a huge secret that I have to tell everyone.”
Jerry combines his talent with painstaking research to produce stunning masks and ceremonial paddles. He turns to books and museums to discover more about his Alutiiq heritage and uses this knowledge to create his own versions of his findings. Using traditional motifs, he adds personal touches sometimes staying along the lines of tradition or playfully presenting a new idea. Jerry’s ancestors used driftwood to fashion their carvings, however, his favorite material is old growth cedar. He adheres to the Alutiiq tradition of painting his pieces in vivid colors with designs that are often rich with precise detail. Despite this quest for technical accuracy, Jerry is sure that a trance like "knowing" of ancestral presence ultimately inspires his carving.
Jerry has received several awards from the prestigious annual Santa Fe Indian Market. His masks and paddles are featured in permanent museum collections, as well as numerous private collections throughout the United States including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Alaska State Museum, Alutiiq Museum, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Autry National Center of the American West, Haffenreffer Museum, the University of Washington's Burke Museum and the Château-Museé, in France.
His work was also featured in the traveling exhibit "Looking Both Ways" on Alutiiq culture. His somewhat controversial basswood carving featured in the exhibit, a mask entitled "Joe Hazelwood", is a reference to the Captain of the Exxon Valdez and the oil spill that changed his life. The Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Oregon selected another of his pieces, titled “Sugpiaq Imaq,” as a design for a premium Native American Pendleton Blanket.
Sharing his art and heritage brings joy to Jerry. “I have discovered how indescribably beautiful the Alutiiq culture is, and feel almost like I have a huge secret that I have to tell everyone.”
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