Collection Spotlight with Golga Oscar

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and through the reopening afterward, the Coe Center partnered with First American Art Magazine to present an interactive Zoom series in which Native artists discussed artworks in the Coe Collections. Collections Spotlight brought deep dives into objects from the Coe collection to the public from the artist’s perspective. These events were free and open to the public.

Golga Oscar is a Yup’ik artist from Southwest Alaska. Oscar has been exploring different mediums that range from leather/skin sewing, grass weaving, and walrus ivory/wood carving. A strong cultural identity is evident in his work. Through his knowledge of traditional art forms and sewing skills, he creates cultural attire that becomes a strong visual element in his photographic imagery. His images portray portraits of Indigenous people to show the world the importance of Native heritage and the validity of their existence. He is striving towards Indigenizing spaces in this Western environment. He graduated from the Institute for American Indian Arts with a BFA in Studio Arts. His work is in permanent collections at the Anchorage Museum, Burke Museum, and Museum of International Folk Art, and has been featured in Vogue Magazine. He has received recognition from First People’s Fund as well as the Rasmusson Foundation.

This style of kayak was used before European contact and made of harvested, dried, and aged seal skin, which would be stretched and then sewn into the kayak frame. Oscar noted the running stitches would be filled with beach grass to prevent water leakage.

Oscar notes that kayaks would have designs on them, especially different clans’ relatives. Looking at the harpoon design he explains that it would be made of caribou antler or walrus ivory. The wood is pigmented with red ochre signify blood. This pigment would be found out on the island and is said to only show itself to its user. Oscar talks about a story about how red ochre came to be.

The canoe opening designs would be different depending on the user, usually strapping them to the kayak. Oscar notes the seal raincoat, which is waterproof like the canoe material, on the figure. Life-size kayaks can hold up to four people. Oscar talks about the beads on the figure; he mentions that the beads would be found from the ground, and there are stories relating to melting permafrost. Models are usually sold to collectors and not usually kept in homes.

Oscar talks about the face of the doll being made of whalebone. This doll has beads for eyes and teeth. In discussing the colors of beads used throughout the doll Oscar shares that Yupik primary colors are red, black, white, and blue in cultural art, especially in mask making and parka designs. Red represents ancestral blood, blue represents water and happiness, black is night, and white signifies day.

Looking at the hanging beaver dangling on the parka, six on each side, Oscar though the creator might utilize Yup’ik numbers. The feathers on the figure are thought to be duck feathers, two in each hand. In Yup’ik, culture primary numbers have importance. Oscar says a lot of people would use rabbit skin for clothing. The boots are bearded seal skin on the sole and calfskin (maybe reindeer) on the calves of the figure. Oscar notes that bearded seal skin is used for clothing like mukluk shoe soles or waterproofing boots and kayaks.

This object would be used during seal hunting on ice. People would approach seals by crawling, and the scratcher would be scratched on ice to calm the animal. Nowadays, many people use their boats for seal hunting.

Oscar says the claws at the end may be bear claws, since seal claws are smaller. The maker of the seal scratcher used ivory to create the small seal face on the scratcher. Oscar discusses that animal figures were often created for protection or to attract the animal’s spirit. The cordage seems to be sinew, which was utilized for string.

Oscar notes the basket weaver used beach grass fibers, which are mainly harvested through coastal regions of Alaska and for various projects. He says his people have made coats and bags from beach grass which can hold up to 20lbs once woven. The design is geometric, which is common in Yup’ik basket and parka designs. These designs can represent family symbology. The red and blue dyed grasses could have been dyed using berries. Oscar says the baskets are supposed to follow a clockwise pattern which is meant to meant to symbolize following the universe or creator.