Reg was born in 1954 in Masset, in the Queen Charlottes. His great grandfather was
Charles Edenshaw, the first professional Haida artist whose work can readily be
identified. In the early 1970s Reg began carving argillite. He first carved in wood while
apprenticed to his older brother Robert Davidson, during the carving of the Charles
Edenshaw memorial house front and associated house posts in 1977 and 1978. Since
that time he has produced masks, bowls, boxes and rattles as well as limited edition silkscreen prints (serigraphs). His major commissions include a totem pole for Tamagawa University in Japan and a totem pole commissioned by his father and raised in Massett, his home town, a old fishing port of the Haida's in the Queen Charlottes Islands. Reg is also an active member as the principal dancer of The Rainbow Creek Dancers, a Haida Dance group formed in 1980 with his brother, Robert. This dance group travels around the country for potlatches and demonstration dances. He believe that to carve well one must also be an active participant in the culture. He has been exhibiting since 1980.
Reg and Robert DAVIDSON are the great grandsons of Charlie Edenshaw, Haida chief
and master artist born in Skidgate about 1839 and died 1920. Charlie was among the
first professional Haida artists and was noted for his flawless execution of dynamic
flowing forms in an otherwise strict and disciplined art tradition. Charlie Edenshaw
frequently met museum anthropologists, curators and collectors at Masset and Prince
Rupert. His contributions to world art are therefore not only hallmarked by exquisite
works in gold, silver, ivory, argillite and wood, but are also found in the recording and
documentation of Haida language and culture.
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
