Red, black, and white mask with large bird's head (raven), surrounded by three smaller birds' heads when closed; birds' heads open vertically with a human face/mask at center with black eyebrows and moustache, and green and blue curving forms on face, and small bird's head on top, holding a $5 Canadian bill in its beak; surrounding circle with blue, red, and black on white face and bird motifs; back of mask has black fur

Transformation Mask, 2016

expand_more
Not on Viewexpand_more

Beau Dick’s practice intentionally straddled the worlds of Indigenous and contemporary art during his lifetime. Dick was not only a Chief within his Kwakwaka'wakw community, but also actively engaged with and challenged the contemporary art world to accept First Nations art on its own terms. His art practice explicitly embraced an anti-capitalist mode of production that privileged community and communal sharing of resources over Western concepts of material wealth and ownership.

Transformation masks such as this are intended to manifest transformation, usually an animal changing into a mythical being, or one animal becoming another, and are intended to be danced within the potlatch ceremony (a Kwakwaka'wakw gift-giving feast in which possessions are given away or destroyed as a show of prominence and to reaffirm community bonds to one another and the supernatural world). This transformation mask represents Raven, who is both the transformer and the creator. When opened, the Raven mask transforms into that of a human surrounded by an ornate corona decorated in complex formline style designs. Speaking to the importance of the potlatch, Dick commented “the Potlatch is the best form of resistance that we have to values that we are subjected to, in some ways. Imagine saving up piles of fives, tens, twenties, fifties, and hundreds—to be wealthy' To have power' No, to give it all away in resistance to these values that Western society tries to perpetrate into us.”

file_downloadprintshare
arrow_back home
Details
Title
Transformation Mask
Artist Life
Canadian (Kwakwaka'wakw), 1955 - 2017
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2021.38
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know

Red, black, and white mask with large bird's head (raven), surrounded by three smaller birds' heads when closed; birds' heads open vertically with a human face/mask at center with black eyebrows and moustache, and green and blue curving forms on face, and small bird's head on top, holding a $5 Canadian bill in its beak; surrounding circle with blue, red, and black on white face and bird motifs; back of mask has black fur
Because of © restrictions, we can only show you a small image of this artwork.