$6.00 $8.50 CAN he jewelry of Denise and Samuel Wallace can be another genre," notes anthropologist Peter Whiteley. appreciated on many levels: as exquisitely crafted "Jewelry produces somewhat greater permanence — as objects of art, as a window into the culture of the on a bracelet or necklace — than the older artistic genres. Arctic people and as visual stories with the major motif of But just like a dance or ceremony, the jewelry often transformation. The Wallaces are master storytellers excerpts an image or condenses a story from the vast who narrate with silver, gold, fossil ivory and colored array of poetic and dramatic imagery of nature and the stones rather than words (Gibson 1987:18). supernatural world that continues to animate [Arctic] sen- Combining their respective expertise in metalwork sibilities in the twenty-first century" (Whiteley 2004:155). and lapidary, Denise, a Chugach (Eskimo) Aleut, and her The physical and spiritual world of the Arctic peoples non-Native husband Samuel create wearable art with provides a wealth of literal and metaphorical images for complex designs drawn primarily from Denise's northern the Wallaces. The silver, gold and ivory hues of the Arctic Native traditions. "Our work," says Denise, "is not abstract winter landscape are mirrored in their materials (Fig. 3). but rather representative of objects, people, and legends Yup'ik ellanguaq (all-seeing) eye motifs adorn both nine- of our belief system in which all things are intercon- teenth-century bag fasteners and a contemporary belt nected" (1996). buckle (Figs. 3, 5). A pair of painted wooden amulets becomes etched fossil ivory earrings (Figs. 11,12). 77t<& Universal Story Above all are the animals — the whales, bears, Similar to other Native North American cultures, a sense walrus and seals — with which the Arctic people form of universal order and its iconography link the Eskimo essential relationships. A view shared throughout the and Aleut cosmos to its regalia and stories. Jewelry, region is that every living creature contains a yua (its though a miniature art form, often carries cosmic mes- double) — the name comes from the Central Yup'ik sages through imagery and design. A Yup'ik Eskimo Eskimos of Alaska, whose art is the Wallaces' major wooden transformation dance mask opens to reveal a source of inspiration — that is capable of taking on differ- semihuman tunraq (Fig. 10). The imagery is reinterpreted ent forms. "An animal's yua frequently appeared as a in silver, gold and fossil ivory in Was/c Belt II (Fig. 7). By transformed human being," according to Ann Fienup- retaining the same aesthetic principles as occur, for Riordan (1994:140), since "shared personage created the example, in carvings or masks, "their transfer onto jewelry common ground for the relationship between human and is simply a translation of preexisting artistic forms into nonhuman persons" (Figs. 2, 4, 6,13).
56 AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE 1. Transformation/Shaman Belt, 1988. Sterling silver, 14-karat gold, fossil ivory, walrus ivory, lapis lazuli, petrified coral, spectrolite, chrysoprase, sugilite, abalone shell, opal, lepidolite. Average figure, 3" high (7.6 cm). This belt shows five Arctic shamans with their spirit helpers in the act of transformation. Each shaman has four (simultaneous) components: animal-shaman, mask, animal transformed and animal scrim- shaw. Left to right: 1) Walrus-man sha- man, walrus mask, walrus transforma- tion, walrus scrimshaw (see Fig. 2); 2) Wolf-man shaman, wolf mask, wolf transformation, wolf scrimshaw; 3) Bird- man shaman, bird mask, bird trans- formation, bird scrimshaw; 4) Bear- man shaman, bear mask, bear transfor- mation, bear scrimshaw; 5) Seal-man shaman, seal mask, seal transformation, seal scrimshaw. Courtesy of the Mingei International Museum, San Diego, Cali- fornia. Photograph by Kiyoshi Togashi.
2. Detail of Figure 1. Indicative of all five shaman sets in the Transformation/ Shaman Belt, some of the components open. As seen in this walrus set, the Walrus-man shaman and walrus mask components have hinged doors that open to reveal the inner spirit, yua. Under the human shaman's mask is the face of a shaman singing. The arms are hinged and moveable. The walrus mask represents the emerging animal spirit and opens to reveal a human spirit face.
SPRING 2006 57 c" 01 o> -I i, o> ~ a_ . o 5. Bag fastener, Yup'ik, nineteenth century. Ivory. e'Vis" long (17 cm). Collected in Chalitmiut, Alaska. A frowning woman with tattoos is flanked by two seals tied to nets. The back flippers of both seals are in the form of human hands with open palms while their backs dis- play el/anguaq, the nucleated eye motifs. Among the Bering Sea Yup'ik Eskimo people, bag fasteners were elaborately carved, revealing the carver's artistic skill and rich imagination. This imagery was the inspiration for the belt buckle in Figure 3. Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Cat. No. 37319.
Transformation defines the Wallaces' jewelry: Sam Wallace was born in 1 936 in Calvin, Virginia, a hinged doors open to reveal surprises, stories are con- coal-mining town. During the 1970s he met Denise in tained within stories, faces peek from behind masks, a Seattle, where he had started a company that manufac- woman becomes the moon, a man becomes a bear. tured stereo speakers. Eventually Sam decided to sell his Furthermore, the pieces themselves transform: a belt share of the company and, with the proceeds, to pursue component becomes a pin or pendant while a small pen- a passion he had had since childhood — collecting min- dant emerges from a larger pendant and pendants erals and gemstones. Denise and Sam traveled to the become earrings (Figs. 7, 9, 13). "Technically, I'm fasci- sources of various stones and minerals, including nated with movement," says Denise. "I like the idea that a Washington, Oregon and Idaho for jaspers and agates, piece can be versatile. I think that this has to do with the and Arizona and New Mexico for azurite and malachite. fact that many older Eskimo and Aleut pieces had multi- Returning to Seattle, they studied silversmithing and lap- meanings or transformations" (Dubin 2005:61). The idary, and learned how to work and set the stones. Wallaces' jewelry illustrates most of the symbolic themes "We had no intention of making jewelry," remembers in Arctic life, including complementary opposites or dual- Sam. "And I was still more inclined toward artwork," says ity (Figs. 11, 12), vision imagery (Figs. 3, 5), masking Denise (Dubin 2005:33). However, by 1977 they moved (Figs. 7, 9) and shamanism (Fig. 1 ). There is also a hint of to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Denise enrolled at the humor in much of the Wallaces' work (Fig. 4). Institute of American Indian Arts. To support themselves, Denise sold their contemporary stone and silver "Scandinavian-looking" jewelry on Santa Fe's plaza for Denise Wallace was born in 1957 to Sally Barnes six years (1977 through 1983). Hottinger, an Aleut, and Emil Stevens Hottinger, a German Denise began to enter their work in competitions. A carpenter. Although reared in Seattle, Washington, Denise belt of silver and picture jasper was awarded Second and her five siblings spent summer vacations with their Place at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts' Aleutian family in Cordova, a small fishing community (SWAIA) Indian Market, Santa Fe in 1982. And one of located on Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska. their belts was awarded both First Place and Best of Con- After high school, Denise traveled to Cordova and resided temporary Jewelry at the 1984 Eight Northern Pueblos for a year with her maternal grandmother, Exenia Chernoff Market held at San lldefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. Barnes, who lived her entire life within the Native com- munity. It was Mrs. Barnes who drew her grandchildren, including Denise, back into their Native heritage since The next few years were a pivotal time for the Wallaces. Sally Hottinger, who grew up during a time of pressure to Their daughter Dawn was born in 1983, and son David assimilate, did not keep up with her indigenous culture. came along two years later. Denise's grandmother was The time Denise spent in Cordova with her grand- placed in a nursing home, and two of Denise's second mother provided an important education that would res- cousins who lived in Cordova committed suicide. About onate in numerous ways. Denise's first teachings came that time, Denise has said, "I felt I needed to counter- from nature. She hiked the rugged Chugach Mountains, balance the negativity of my cousins' death and what it studied their sculpted formations and became fascinated said about the failure of my culture. There were all these with the abundance of birds, fish and sea mammals, emotional struggles going on" (Teters 1997:25). including orcas, seals and rafts of sea otters, many with Denise began to research Native Alaskan imagery, young pups clinging to their bellies. From her cousins, noting that "for the first time, I began expressing myself as aunts and uncles, Denise learned of her family's history in a Native person through my work. Before that, I was the region. But above all, she absorbed her grand- learning the craft and trying technically to do the best mother's values and listened to her stories. that I could" (Wallace 1994:114). What followed was the
SPRING 2006 59 Wallaces' initial use of Alaskan imagery and design elements, combined with the tech- niques they had acquired during their years in the Southwest. Their breakthrough piece was the Killer Whale Belt, which was completed in time for the 1984 SWAIA Indian Market. Within each silver-and-inlaid-stone whale, Denise scrimshawed bears, seals, hunters, fish and eagles onto fossil ivory. The belt won two First Place awards. Three months later, the Wallaces crafted a belt titled Alaska, the Land and Spirit of My People, which won an Honorable Mention at the Native American Invitational Show held at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona. Neither belt had any removable compo- nents. Soon, however, people asked if Denise could make separate pieces. "I realized it would be nice if people could take the whole belt apart and wear the pieces individually or together," said Denise (Dunitz 1988:52). She also became interested in the moveable parts found on numerous Alaskan Native masks. Shortly thereafter, the interactive, transform- ing elements that are now such a defining ele- ment in the Wallaces' work emerged. The next major pieces were all masks, and one of the masks opened up revealing an inner image. Denise was intrigued by the excitement it generated. "When people pur- chase your pieces, it becomes very much a part of them," she said. "Because they wear it, it's more personal than painting or sculp- ture; it's something that they put on their body" (Teters 1997:27). Denise frequently mentions that as people wear the Wallaces' work, the pieces take on another dimension. When strangers invariably ask about the artist and the designs, part of the continuing story is that the wearer passes the information, including its story, on to new people. The wearer thus becomes a storyteller.
As Denise focused on her Alaskan themes, a division of labor was created; she did the design and metalwork while Sam became responsible for the lapidary, an arrangement that is in place to this day. At the same time, they are very much a team. Denise decides on a design and then discusses it with Sam. Certain designs dictate specific colors; others allow more flexibility in determining what stones will be used and where to add scrim- shaw details. As they study a tray filled with
AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE 7. Mask Belt II, 1989. Sterling silver, 14-karat gold, fossil ivory, lapis lazuli, sugilite. Approximately 4" high (10.2 cm). Yup'ik masks had multiple symbolic references and were a visible embodiment of shaman spirit helpers. This was the first belt they made using equal parts 14-karat gold and sterling silver. Many of the masks open to reveal an etched fossil ivory inner spirit. The belt is shown closed (top) and open (bottom) with their removable pendants and earrings. The twelve masks alternate with yua (spirit) faces: 1) Woman of the Moon; 2) Bird Spirit of the Mountain; 3) Walrus mask; 4) Bering Sea Yup'ik transformation mask; 5) Wolf mask; 6) Yup'ik Seal Dance mask; 7) Spirit of Driftwood; 8) Half Man/Half Wolf; 9) Tanqik; 10) Bering Sea Yup'ik transformation mask; 11) Owl mask; 12) Lower Kuskokwim maskette. Courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska. Cat. No. 1999.52.1. Photograph by Chris Arend.
stones, they place them in patterns. Because of the way Transformations: that the stones are set in the Wallaces' pieces, Sam prefers opaque stones over translucent ones. The stones lew&lry of 12en\£,e and they use — lapis lazuli, sugilite, jasper, chrysoprase — are Wallace solid and vividly colored, in contrast to the fossilized ivory. The collector Judith Powell has said that the Wallaces' is a tWenty-1-iVe-year retrospec-tiVe "work is distinguished by their use of color. The pieces exhibition that features nearly tv/o hundred have a delicacy and lightness in their color and structure despite their size and weight — which is always very sub- of the- \*/a\\ac43-s'1 v/ork-s of miniature stantial but comfortable" (2003). Denise acknowledges v/earable sculpture. Organized by the that Sam's love of lapidary and her reliance on his work has undoubtedly influenced the course of her design. And Anchorage /Museum of-History and .Art, no two pieces are ever the same, since Sam does all of Anchorage, Alaska and
SPRING 2006 61 Initially the Wallaces produced one or two belts a The Wallaces' storytelling belts are coveted by collectors year, but eventually they crafted only one every two or and museums (Figs. 1, 7, 8). Each typically took four three years. By 1992 there was a waiting list for the months to make and required eight hundred to one thou- belts, which were often purchased sight unseen. The sand hours of labor. (The belt that Denise and Sam con- designs for the belts came from many sources. Denise sider their single most important — the Crossroads of found inspiration in the imagery on old scrimshaw (Fig. Continents Belt— took twenty-five hundred hours of 5) and from books on Alaskan Native art and artifacts work.) It was not unusual for Sam to be cutting and shap- such as INUA: Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo ing three hundred pieces of stone and ivory, many with (Fitzhugh and Kaplan 1983), the catalog for a traveling compound curves. "The belts were very difficult and exhibition curated by the Smithsonian Institution in demanding on us," Denise explains, "because we had 1982 (Figs. 5, 10, 12). She was particularly stimulated to balance the whole piece with design and color, tell a to create the Crossroads of Continents Belt after see- story, and make it wearable" (Dubin 2005:194). ing the exhibition of the same name. The imagery in
AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE Agayuliyararput: The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks: that Denise and Sam's long-term marriage and mutually Our Way of Making Prayer, an exhibit organized by the respectful working partnership has influenced their Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, work. Whereas many people emphasize the male hunt- Alaska, can be seen in their work, including the Yup'ik ing aspect of the Eskimo/lnuit culture, Denise has Dancer Belt. Following the King Island Dancers perfor- always stressed that the woman's role is as important mance in Santa Fe, Denise and Sam created the King as the man's role. Island Dancers Belt. Her greatest source of inspiration, however, has The concept of family supplies a wealth of images. been traditional Native American stories. Storytellers The Women and Children Belt was based on a typi- have played an essential role in American Indian cul- cal family outing in Cordova. The belt captures the tures, passing on history and tradition from generation to inevitable, often humorous chaos when numerous generation. The Wallaces continue the custom by shar- mothers, babies and children interact. For Denise, ing the stories of Alaskan Natives through their jewelry, mothers are heroic figures. One might even surmise particularly the belts.
8. Top: Craftspeople Belt, 1992. Sterling silver, 14-karat gold, fos- sil ivory, sugilite, chrysocolla, variscite, chrysoprase, lapis lazuli, coral, lace agate, silicated chrysocolla (gem silica). First figure, 33/i" high (9.5 cm). Denise designed this belt after a trip to the Anchorage Museum to participate and demonstrate in its Native artists group show. The belt is her tribute to the various artists and their media. Ten figures are separated by medallions scrimshawed with craft imagery. Left to right: two boatcarvers, two maskmakers, two basket weavers, two ivory carvers, two doll makers. Courtesy of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cat. No. AT-58. Photograph by Walter Bigbee.
9. Far left: Yup'ik dancers. Left to right: Pendant of dancer/mask, closed, 1987. Private collection; Pendant of Yup'ik dancer with mask as body, open, 1986. The inner, removable face is itself a pendant. Private collection; Ring of dancer/mask, open, 1980s-1990s. Private collection; Ring of dancer/mask, closed, 1980s-1990s. Courtesy of the artists; Pin/pendant of Yup'ik woman dancer, 2001. 3%" high (8.5 cm). Private collection. Photograph by Kiyoshi Togashi.
10. Left: Yup'ik transformation mask, collected 1878-1881. Painted wood, sinew, feathers. 17Yi6" high (44 cm). The transformational portion of this mask figure has a hinged belly that opens to reveal a thumbless, semihuman tunraq. Its theatrical character was the major inspiration for the Dancer Belt and is reinterpreted in fig- ures 4 and 10 of Mask Belt II (Fig. 7), and the two left pendants in Figure 9. Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Cat. No. 64260.
SPRING 2006 People who saw the belts asked to buy their individual components. After a belt was completed, Denise would designate which individual pieces she and Sam would then personally fabricate in limited editions of three to five (Figs. 3, 6, 13).
Requests for the Wallaces' work soon exceeded their ability to produce it. This led to the develop- ment of what they named the Gallery Line, which required the casting (under the name "Fabricast") of some of its components outside the studio. These pieces were returned to the studio and then com- bined with hand-fabricated details in silver, gold, fossil ivory and stones added by the Wallaces and their assistants. "Our main goal was to create a line of jewelry that is affordable but had the same qual- ity as any fabricated piece that we did," states 11. Earrings, 1992. Sterling silver, etched and carved fossil Denise. "The Gallery Line pieces were multiples of ivory, sugilite. Male, 15/e" (3.4 cm). These earrings are a con- an idea — not mass produced" (Dubin 2005:196). temporary version of nineteenth-century hunting amulets (Fig. Denise designed and fabricated the master upon 12). Private collection. Photograph by Kiyoshi Togashi. which all others were based. The Gallery Line encompassed mostly rings, earrings and bracelets and was marketed in about forty galleries and museum shops around the country. The Gallery Line had both a fixed number of editions (typically one to two hundred pieces) as well as unlimited pro- duction pieces (Fig. 11). No two Gallery Line pieces are entirely identical, since the natural materials, like fossil ivory, as well as the scrimshaw designs, vary. The Wallaces hired seven additional people, most of whom had never made jewelry, to help produce the Gallery Line. They enjoyed teaching employees with "no preconceived ideas about jewelry," explained Sam. "If we are going to be unique, then we have to figure out our own way of doing things" (White 1992). However, by 1996 the Wallaces began to rethink the direction of their busi- ness. They phased out selling to galleries, but con- tinued the Gallery Line at their Santa Fe studio for several more years.
From 1993 to 1995 Denise was part of an artist's collaborative program, This Path We Travel, spon- 12. Pair of painted wooden amulets in the form of smiling sored by the Smithsonian's National Museum of male and frowning female faces, and an example of duality, collected at Nunivak Island, 1927. e'W high (17 cm). In the the American Indian, Washington, D.C. The pro- Bering Sea area, carvings of conventionalized male and gram brought together fifteen contemporary Native female representations were frequently attached inside American artists of different backgrounds to exchange hunters' kayaks as protectors from evil sea-dwelling spirits. Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History, ideas about the creative process. Of the four locations Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Cat. No. 340373. they visited, Hawaii was particularly meaningful to Denise. As the Wallaces re-evaluatated the direction of their business and lives, Denise and Sam dis- cussed leaving Santa Fe. By the fall of 1 999 the fam- ily had moved to a new home near the town of Hilo, Hawaii. The Wallaces' latest designs already exhibit some Hawaiian influence.
AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE Although neither Dawn nor David initially expressed any inter- est in jewelry, both are talented jew- elers. Dawn, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with a major in jewelry design, has returned to Hawaii and is pursuing a career in jewelry. She was honored with the prestigious "Artist's Choice" Award at the 2005 SWAIA Indian Market for her first belt, titled My Family or My Ohana. "When we left Santa Fe, we decided that we only would do what we wanted to do," says Denise. "Just the four of us, no employees and no open studio. I would guess that we are making about forty to fifty pieces a year now. We will never make another belt. They are too intense. And it's all we can do now to make enough jewelry to do three shows a year" (Dubin 2005: 220). These three shows include the Native American Invitational Show at the Heard Museum in March, the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum show in August, and the show at Long Ago and Far Away Gallery in Manchester 13. Walrus-man bolo/pendant, 1993. Sterling silver, 14-karat gold, fossil ivory. 33/a" long Center, Vermont the weekend after (8.6 cm). Limited edition 5/5. The detachable etched fossil ivory pendant can be worn Thanksgiving. separately, as shown. Private collection. Photograph by Kiyoshi Togashi. What continues to truly distin- guish Denise and Sam Wallace's art is a sense of life and animation. Their ability to combine Mittler, Gene A. complementary motifs within a single object of jewelry 1993 Artists Bridging Cultures: Denise Wallace. Art in Focus. Rowell, Judith creates a dynamism that imbues their jewelry with move- 2003 Personal communication. ment and expression. Evoking the spirit of the finest tra- Teters, Charlene ditional Arctic carvings, the Wallaces' intimately scaled 1997 Denise Wallace: Cultural Bridges in Metal and Stone. Indian work conveys a monumental life force. Artist, Summer:22-27. Wallace, Denise 1994 This Path We Travel: Celebrations of Contemporary Native American Creativity. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. and Bibliography Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado. Dubin, Lois Sherr 1995 Personal communication. 2005 Arctic Transformations: The Jewelry of Denise and Samuel 1996 Personal communication. Wallace. Easton Studio Press, Westport, Connecticut and White, Fran Theodore Dubin Foundation, New York. 1992 Layered with Significance. Lapidary Journal, September. Dunitz, Robin J. Whiteley, Peter M. 1988 Wearable Sculpture: Denise Wallace's Versatile 2004 The Southwest "Painterly" Style and Its Cultural Context. In Metalsmithing. Southwest Art, November. Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of Fienup-Riordan, Ann the Northwest and Southwest, edited by Kari Chalker, 1994 Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup Ik Eskimo pp. 148-155. Harry N. Abrams with American Museum of Oral Tradition. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Natural History, New York. Fitzhugh, William W. and Susan A. Kaplan 1983 INUA: Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo. Smithsonian Lois Sherr Dubin is a curator, frequent lecturer and author, most Institution, Washington, D.C. recently of Arctic Transformations: The Jewelry of Denise and Samuel Wallace (2005). Gibson, Daniel 1987 Denise Wallace, Storyteller. Artistry in Jewelry. Santa Fean, December:! 8.
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