Keet Shagoon (Killer Whale)

Date2003

Maker Preston Singletary Native American, Tlingit, born 1963

Label TextGrowing up in west coast cities and trained in European glass techniques and practice, Singletary began incorporating Native iconography into his work in 1987, explaining: “I found a source of strength and power [in Tlingit designs] that brought me back to my family, society, and cultural roots.” In this, his first monumental work, the artist studied the house screen in this gallery, fusing his clan Killer Whale crest into sixteen panels, thus recharging an ancient tradition and bringing the past forward.

The Killer Whale image is my family crest symbol. This image is presented in the form of a screen that would be used to separate the chief's quarters from the rest of the clan house. It provides a portal for a chief to make a dramatic entrance when entertaining guests. I like to look at it as a metaphor for the term 'threshold.' The medium of glass can be a threshold to the future for the cultural growth of Native people.

– Preston Singletary, 2003

Keet Shagoon, or Killer Whale, takes the traditional form of an interior house screen and transforms it into glass. The bold design features a split killer whale, the blow hole represented by the circles on either side of the whale's head. Preston Singletary refers to this contemporary version of an older screen as "modern heritage art."

Object number2003.12

ProvenancePurchased from the artist 2003

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

The medium of glass can be a threshold to the future for the cultural growth of Native people.

Preston Singletary, 2003

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Preston Singletary: Threshold, May 22, 2003 - November 30, 2003Published ReferencesSeattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 31 Brotherton, Barbara, Native Art of the Northest Coast, A Community of Collectors, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 2008, p. 143, illus. fig. 2.

Credit LinePurchased in honor of John H. Hauberg with funds from the Mark Tobey Estate Fund, John and Joyce Price, the Native American Art Support Fund, Don W. Axworthy, Jeffrey and Susan Brotman, Marshall Hatch, C. Calvert Knudsen, Christine and Assen Nicolov, Charles and Gayle Pancerzewski, Sam and Gladys Rubinstein, SAM Docents, SAMS Supporters, Frederick and Susan Titcomb, and Virginia and Bagley Wright

Dimensions72 x 92 x 3/8 in. (182.9 x 233.7 x 1cm)

MediumFused and sand carved glass