Alcheringa Gallery
665 Fort Street
Victoria, BC, Canada
TEL: (250) 383-8224
FAX: (250) 383-9399
email alcheringa
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Don Yeomans
Haida
Don Yeomans was born in 1958 in Prince Rupert. His father is Haida, his mother is Métis. He began learning carving from his aunt, renowned Haida artist Freda Diesing, at age twelve. In 1976, he travelled to Vancouver to study in the Fine Arts program at Langara College where he met Bud Mintz, an instructor at the college, who encouraged him to make art his career.
In 1978, Don participated in the carving of four Haida interior house-posts for Old Masset, supervised by Robert Davidson, his childhood idol. Robert taught him much about wood and design. He was also fortunate to study jewellery making with Phil Janze and Gerry Marks, living with the Janze family from 1980-1982. Following this, Don taught basic design and carving in the public school system before moving to Vancouver in 1986 to work on a totem pole commission with Bill Reid.
Don Yeomans has produced over forty silkscreen prints since 1970, comprising some of the most innovative graphics on the coast. Some are classic Haida designs like Raven with Sun (featured on the cover of Hilary Stewart's Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast); some use complex designs from his Celtic heritage, like Raven’s Roots; and some are graceful, monocromatic motifs, like The Runner. Towards the end of the 1970's, Don began to develop a unique personal style using negative formlines. Fine examples of this style are Gunarh and the Whale and My Father’s Victory. Don is also renowned for his work in gold, silver, and wood.
Some notable public collections that house Don's work include the Royal British Columbia Museum, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology, and the Seattle Art Museum.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
1996 Spirits of the Forest, Sea and Sky: Masks by Mastercarvers of the Northwest Coast, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria
2002 Art Thompson and Don Yeomans Serigraph Retrospective, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC
2006 Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
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