Dan Friday
Columbus Dispatch article on Hawk Galleries' 'Brilliant' exhibition
Bio
Dan Friday is a member of the Lummi Nation and a Seattle-based glass artist. He has spent the last twenty-five years creating his own work and also working with artists such as Dale Chihuly, Paul Marioni, and Preston Singletary.
The themes and images of Friday's work are often drawn from his Coastal Salish heritage and are solidified in the world of glass art.
Dan has taught at the University of Washington, Evergreen State College, Pilchuck Glass School, and Haystack Craft Center.
He has had residencies at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA, the Burke Museum in Seattle, WA, the Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, NY, and the Dream Community in Tai Pei, Taiwan.
Friday has been awarded the Bill Holm Grant, the People's choice award from the Bellevue Art Museum, an Artist Trust Fellowship, and the Discovery Fellowship through (SWAIA) the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. He was a contestant on Netflix's Competition Show, Blown Away Season 3, 2022.
Work Back Stories:
Owl Totem
The Owl has many different interpretations. Associated with knowledge, intuition, and unseen truths, the Owl is also said to be aware of our fate. What does that mean to me? I am not exactly sure, what I can say is that we have an undeniable connection. I do not worship the owl. I worship the creator of the owl. I have never seen the creator, but with great admiration, I have seen the Owl.
Grandpa Joe's (Joseph Hillaire, aka Kwul Kwul Tw) totem poles were different, and very contemporary at their time, he had his own style. In a time when many Native peoples were isolated and adapting to their rapidly changing surroundings, grandpa, with his stories and Totem poles, shared the ways of the Lummi, and Coast Salish people. His poles were notably in the 1962 World's Fair and in Kobe, Japan. Some of his poles still stand today.
The stories and lines in my Totems are subtle. I often look to personal experience and expression for the themes. I am grateful for my grandfather and his modern approach, it empowers me as I find my way. Our work is different, but a common message is that "we are still here". I think anyone who can find their own voice in whatever they do is very lucky.
Aunt Fran's Basket
When I was younger and went to aunt Fran's house, it was so comfortable. I think because of all the projects spread about the house, from her loom for mountain goat wool blankets to incredible Cedar baskets. Her hands were always moving, from this thing to that, she was a true artist and cultural purveyor. She said, "It is our way, we make things". She gave me many little things, but her presence was the true gift. She was largely influential in my finding my path in glass.
Bears
My family and relations are the "Children of the Setting Sun". We are the decedents of Xa-Tel-Ek (Haytelock pron.) or also known as Frank Hillaire. Frank signed the Point Elliot treaty of 1855, effectively removing our people from the San Juan Island chain in Washington state, and establishing the Lummi Nation Reservation near Bellingham, Washington. "Keep my fires burning." - Frank Hillaire
Salmon
For Millenia Coast Salish People have survived as fishermen. Migrating Salmon was the bulk of this sustenance, and their presence was a focal point of the way these people built their lives and rituals. In current times, the threat of commercial over fishing and habitat decline has both of these communities in jeopardy. With works like this I hope to raise awareness as to the state of their fragile existence, I believe our fates are intertwined.
Sxwo'le (Reef Net)
Historically an Anchor holds a ship steadfast against the currents. Symbolically an Anchor represents security and foundation. That imagery also speaks to one's ability to ground oneself to a place. Coast Salish people have endured a complete shift in their world over the past two hundred years. The turbulent meeting of two cultures has displaced and set adrift the people of the Salish Sea. It is my hope that this work will in some way represent the resilience the Coast Salish People.
A big part of my fascination with the medium of glass is its permeance. In my studies at the Corning Museum of Glass, one piece that particularly speaks to me is the bust of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. It was made in glass over 3500 years ago. Although fragile, it is resilient. This small, beautiful piece of glass tells a story millennia later.
The Reef Net fishing or the Sxwo'le, was a central way of life in the Salish Sea. Fishing was not only a means of sustenance, but it also gave them viable commerce amongst the settlers and changing landscape. In this picture from 1890 my Great Great Grandfather, Hae te luk (Frank Hillaire) is teaching the settlers how to Reef Net fish. This action consequently spawned the commercial Reef Net canning industry in the Puget Sound, and the state banned natives from fishing as they had always done.
Most recently, in my research at the Burke Museum, I have been studying the fishing artifacts of Coast Salish peoples. The Reef Net anchor stones are of particular interest to me. As archeology in modern times has moved under water, it has become apparent the specifically laid out anchor patterns just how much reef netting was practiced in the Salish Sea. Many of the artifacts of indigenous people return to the earth through decay. The Reef Net anchors are beautifully preserved and serve as evidence of a thriving industry of the peoples of the Salish Sea. During the Bolt Decision of 1974 these anchors held down more than fishing Canoes they once moored, their permanence staked a claim to our ancestral rights.