Silas Coon

Country/Region: Northwest Coast (view other artists)

Tribe: Kwakwaka'wakw

Silas Coon (b. 1963)was born in Alert Bay, BC, just off the Northeast Coast of Vancouver Island in the ancestral land of the Kwakwaka'wakw. At age eleven, he moved to Gilford Island where Jim King, a chief who presided at the potlatch, carved in a dilapidated schoolhouse. When Silas saw the old man’s work, he wanted to become a carver. George Hunt Jr. taught him carving skills in a class at S.J. Willis Junior High School in Victoria. Silas also worked closely with his cousin Beau Dick from 1985 to 1998, during which time he learned to carve mask, poles, and canoes.

Silas has made over a thousand pieces in his career so far. He has participated in Alcheringa Gallery’s Tribal Miniatures exhibitions since 1999, and is widely recognized as a pre-eminent carver of small works. His goal is to teach his skills to younger generations of native artists.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

1999 Tribal Miniatures '99, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2000 Tribal Miniatures '00, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2001 Tribal Miniatures '01, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2002 Tribal Miniatures X, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2003 The Storytellers, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

2004 Tribal Adornments, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

VIEW SHORT BIOGRAPHY